¿Cómo te amo?

(Read mainly on wikipedia; and the translation into Spanish is a collage of different translations, including mine. Anyway, the original version has no comparison...)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) wrote a series of 44 sonnets, in secret, about the intense love she felt for her husband-to-be, poet Robert Browning. She called this series Sonnets From the Portuguese, a title based on the pet name Robert gave her: "my little Portuguese" as she was dark. "Sonnet 43" was the next-to-last sonnet in this series. In composing her sonnets, she had two types of sonnet formats from which to choose: the Italian model popularized by Petrarch (1304-1374) and the English model popularized by Shakespeare (1564-1616). She chose Petrarch's model.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
for the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
with my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

¿Cómo te amo? Déjame contar las formas:
Te amo todo lo profundo, ancho y alto
que mi alma pueda alcanzar, cuando dejo de percibir
las fronteras del Ser y la Gracia ideal.
Te amo en el más calmo instante de cada día,
con sol y con luz de vela.
Te amo en libertad, como se aspira al Bien;
Te amo con pureza, como se rechaza la Lisonja.
Te amo con la pasión que antes puse
en mis viejos pesares, y con la fé de mi infancia.
Te amo con un amor que creí perder
cuando mis santos se desvanecieron.
Te amo con cada frágil aliento,
con cada sonrisa y con cada lágrima de mi ser;
y si Dios así lo desea,
no podré sino amarte más tras la muerte.