CLXXXVIII

CLXXXVIII

Original Text

George Henry Boker, Sonnets: A Sequence on Profane Love, ed. Edward Sculley Bradley (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1929). http://www.sonnets.org/profane-1.htm

1My darling's features, painted by the light;
2As in the convex of a mirror, see
3Her face diminished so fantastically
4It scarcely hints her lovely self aright.
5Away, poor mockery! My outraged sight
6Turns from the fraud you perpetrate on me;
7This is no transcript, but a forgery,
8As far from semblance as is black from white.
9Breathe, smile, blush, kiss me! Murmur in my ear
10The things we know -- we only! and give heed
11To this deep sigh and this descending tear,
12Ere from my senses you can win the meed
13Of faith, to make your doubtful title clear,
14And so convince me you are she indeed.
Publication Start Year
1929
RPO poem Editors
Data entry: Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2012