Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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…

Sonnet 24 Let the worlds sharpness like a clasping knife Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ Let the world’s sharpness, like a clasping knife,Shut in upon itself and do no harmIn this close hand of Love, now soft and warm,And let us hear no sound of human strifeAfter the click of the shutting. Life to … Read more…

Sonnet 25 A heavy heart Beloved have I borne Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borneFrom year to year until I saw thy face,And sorrow after sorrow took the placeOf all those natural joys as lightly wornAs the stringed pearls, each lifted in its turnBy a beating heart at … Read more…

Sonnet 26 I lived with visions for my company Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ I lived with visions for my companyInstead of men and women, years ago,And found them gentle mates, nor thought to knowA sweeter music than they played to me. But soon their trailing purple was not freeOf this world’s dust, their … Read more…

Sonnet 27 My own Beloved who hast lifted me Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ My own Beloved, who hast lifted meFrom this drear flat of earth where I was thrown,And, in betwixt the languid ringlets, blownA life-breath, till the forehead hopefullyShines out again, as all the angels see,Before thy saving kiss! My own, my … Read more…

Sonnet 28 My letters all dead paper mute and white Poem  ………………. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning _______________________________________________________________________________________ My letters! all dead paper, mute and white!And yet they seem alive and quiveringAgainst my tremulous hands which loose the stringAnd let them drop down on my knee to-night. This said,?he wished to have me in his sightOnce, as … Read more…