Sonnets from the Portuguese, written around 1845–1846 and first published in 1850, is a collection of 44 love sonnets written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The collection was praised and popular during the poet's lifetime. It is still popular today. Even though the title suggests otherwise, the sonnets were all written by Browning and were not translated from Portuguese.

The first line of Sonnet 43 has become one of the most famous in English poetry: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."

Title

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was unsure about publishing her poems, as she felt they were too personal. Her husband, Robert Browning, encouraged her, saying they were the finest series of English sonnets since the time of Shakespeare. To protect their privacy, she decided to publish the poems as if they were translations from another language. At first, she planned to call the collection "Sonnets translated from the Bosnian." However, Robert suggested she claim the poems were from Portuguese, likely because Elizabeth admired the Portuguese poet Camões, and Robert often called her "my little Portuguese." The title also honors a collection of letters from 1669 titled Les Lettres Portugaises.

In popular culture

The first line of Sonnet 43 has appeared in many titles and works.

• "Let Me Count the Ways" (Yoko Ono song), a 1980 song from Milk and Honey
• "Let Me Count the Ways" (Natural song), a 2002 song
• "Let Me Count the Ways (I Love You)", a 1976 song by The Temptations from The Temptations Do the Temptations
• "Let Me Count the Ways", a 1980 song by Tanya Tucker from Dreamlovers
• "How Do I Love Thee", a 1984 instrumental by The Shadows from Guardian Angel
• "Let Me Count the Ways", a 1984 song by Steve Hackett from Till We Have Faces
• "Let Me Count the Ways", a 1996 song by Dave Koz from Off the Beaten Path
• "How do I love thee?", from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Libby Larsen (1990)

• Let Me Count the Ways, a 1965 work by Peter De Vries
• Let Me Count the Ways, a 1988 novel by Leigh Michaels
• Let Me Count the Ways: Discovering Great Sex Without Intercourse, a 1999 book by Marty Klein
• "Let Me Count the Ways", a 2007 poem by Matthew Byrne, also appearing in The Best American Poetry 2007

• "Let Me Count the Ways", an episode of Knots Landing
• "Let Me Count the Ways", an episode of Cheers
• "Let Me Count the Ways", an episode of The Red Green Show
• "How Do I Love Thee", a fictional gameshow for newly-weds on Married… with Children

The collection also appears in the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when it is given to Buffy by a love interest.