By reading the poem <em>Sonnet 13 by Elizabeth Barrett</em>, it's possible to understand that the beloved wants the speaker to find enough words to express her love. The poem says <em>"The love I bear thee, finding words enough, And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, Between our faces, to cast light on each?" </em>using images to imply that<em> it is asked from the speaker that she finds the words to express what is inside of her</em>, by "holding the torch out", even though the winds are rough, <em>what could put her feelings in danger. The beloved requires that the speaker would cast "light" on both of their faces, enlighting their connection and relationship</em>, and that could only be done if she took <em>action "into speech", as the poem says, "finding words enough" to express herself. </em>
The speaker responds to the beloved's request by questioning it, which can be understood because she ends up <em>"(...) to cast light on each?"</em> with a question mark. Moreover, the speaker says<em> "I cannot teach My hand to hold my spirit so far off From myself (...) of love hid in me out of reach"</em>. The poem implies that the beloved's request is impossible to be fulfilled because it is out of her reach. Expressing her love is something that <em>the speaker can't "teach" herself, because that would drive her most deep emotions, her "spirit", away.</em> She ends up saying <em>"Nay, let the silence of my womanhood Commend my woman-love to thy belief (...) By a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude, Lest one touch of this heart convey its grief" </em>which means that she denies the beloved's request, by letting her silence commit and honor her "woman-love", her feelings, in a fortitude held with determination. <em>The speaker intends to avoid the risk of love end up causing loss and grief in her life,</em> even if it's the loss of herself.
The speaker response suggests that she has real feelings, that they are strong inside herself. They are pictured as a <em>"torch" capable to "cast light on each".</em> When she says<em> "love hid", it can be understood that the love is there, but hidden inside her</em> and that <em>expressing it would be betraying herself.</em> Putting her love in speech, transforming it into words, <em>the speaker would risk her spirit and deepest identity. </em>She denies the beloved's request, which means that she has a strong personality, that she knows herself, and is not willing to put her most precious feelings at risk. The poem says <em>"(...) I stand unwon, however wooed"</em>, what proves <em>how difficult it is to "win" the speaker and make her break her fortitude.</em> However, she can also be seen as a person scared of opening up and taking risks, who always prefers to stay in omission.
