Sonnets from the Portuguese: III
Sonnets from the Portuguese: III
Original Text
A Selection from the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. First Series. New Edition. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1886. 1: 181-202.
1Unlike are we, unlike, O princely Heart!
2Unlike our uses and our destinies.
3Our ministering two angels look surprise
4On one another, as they strike athwart
5Their wings in passing. Thou, bethink thee, art
6A guest for queens to social pageantries,
8Than tears even can make mine, to play thy part
9Of chief musician. What hast thou to do
10With looking from the lattice-lights at me,
11A poor, tired, wandering singer, singing through
14And Death must dig the level where these agree.
Notes
7] gages: tokens given to ensure some action is performed (such as a song or a battle); securities (a legal term) Back to Line
12] cypress tree: the cypress tree is usually associated with funerals and death Back to Line
13] chrism: a scented oil used for anointing in the Catholic church and sometimes in the Church of England Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1850
RPO poem Editors
Marc R. Plamondon
RPO Edition
2007
Form