Sonnets from the Portuguese: XXX

Sonnets from the Portuguese: XXX

Original Text
A Selection from the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. First Series. New Edition. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1886. 1: 181-202.
1I see thine image through my tears to-night,
2And yet to-day I saw thee smiling. How
3Refer the cause?—Belovèd, is it thou
4Or I, who makes me sad? The acolyte
5Amid the chanted joy and thankful rite
6May so fall flat, with pale insensate brow,
7On the altar-stair. I hear thy voice and vow,
8Perplexed, uncertain, since thou art out of sight,
9As he, in his swooning ears, the choir’s amen.
10Belovèd, dost thou love? or did I see all
11The glory as I dreamed, and fainted when
12Too vehement light dilated my ideal,
13For my soul’s eyes? Will that light come again,
14As now these tears come—falling hot and real?
Publication Start Year
1850
RPO poem Editors
Marc R. Plamondon
RPO Edition
2007
Form