Question

How is the experience of listening to the poem "How Do I Love Thee" being read aloud different from the experience of reading it silently? Hearing the poem read aloud lets listeners better understand how hard the poet worked to make each word count. The flaws and inconsistencies in the poem's rhyme scheme become apparent when it is read aloud. Listening to the sounds of the poem lets the audience unlock its hidden meaning. The sounds and rhythms of the poem are easier to understand when it is read aloud.

Answer 1

I believe the experience of reading the poem aloud is different because:

The sounds and rhythms of the poem are easier to understand when it is read aloud.

Step-by-step explanation:

"How Do I Love Thee" is a poem by English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, of the Romantic Movement. The poem has a beautiful rhyme scheme: ABBAABBACDCDCD. The rhyme scheme is easy to notice when reading the poem silently, however, when we read it aloud, we can better notice its rhythm. The poet used a technique called enjambment, which is the continuation of a sentence across a line break. Take a look at the lines below:

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.

See how the first line continues into the second, which continues into the third one? They are all but one long sentence. Reading the poem aloud gives us the chance to notice that the rhythm changes when that happens. Instead of having a break after each line, we go on and on.