Month: November 2017

Sonnet 14 If thou must love me let it be for nought Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ If thou must love me, let it be for noughtExcept for love’s sake only. Do not say‘I love her for her smile?her look?her wayOf speaking gently,?for a trick of thoughtThat falls in well with mine, and certes … Read more…

Sonnet 15 Accuse me not beseech thee that I wear Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wearToo calm and sad a face in front of thine;For we two look two ways, and cannot shineWith the same sunlight on our brow and hair. On me thou lookest with no … Read more…

Sonnet 16 And yet because thou overcomest so Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ And yet, because thou overcomest so,Because thou art more noble and like a king,Thou canst prevail against my fears and flingThy purple round me, till my heart shall growToo close against thine heart henceforth to knowHow it shook when alone. Why, … Read more…

Sonnet 17 My poet thou canst touch on all the notes Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ My poet, thou canst touch on all the notesGod set between his After and Before,And strike up and strike off the general roarOf the rushing worlds a melody that floatsIn a serene air purely. AntidotesOf medicated music, answering … Read more…

Sonnet 18 I never gave a lock of hair away Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ I never gave a lock of hair awayTo a man, Dearest, except this to thee,Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully,I ring out to the full brown length and say‘Take it.‘ My day of youth went yesterday;My hair no longer … Read more…

Sonnet 19 The souls Rialto hath its merchandise Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ XIX The soul’s Rialto hath its merchandise;I barter curl for curl upon that mart,And from my poet’s forehead to my heartReceive this lock which outweighs argosies,?As purply black, as erst to Pindar’s eyesThe dim purpureal tresses gloomed athwartThe nine white Muse-brows. … Read more…

Sonnet 20 Beloved my Beloved when I think Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ Beloved, my Beloved, when I thinkThat thou wast in the world a year ago,What time I sat alone here in the snowAnd saw no footprint, heard the silence sinkNo moment at thy voice, but, link by link,Went counting all my chains … Read more…

Sonnet 21 Say over again and yet once over again Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ Say over again, and yet once over again,That thou dost love me. Though the word repeatedShould seem ‘a cuckoo-song,’ as thou dost treat it,Remember, never to the hill or plain,Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strainComes the fresh Spring in … Read more…

Sonnet 22 When our two souls stand up erect and strong Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ When our two souls stand up erect and strong,Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher,Until the lengthening wings break into fireAt either curved point,?what bitter wrongCan the earth do to us, that we should not longBe here … Read more…

Sonnet 23 Is it indeed so If I lay here dead Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead,Wouldst thou miss any life in losing mine?And would the sun for thee more coldly shineBecause of grave-damps falling round my head?I marvelled, my Beloved, when I readThy thought so … Read more…