Sonnets from the Portuguese: XI
Sonnets from the Portuguese: XI
Original Text
A Selection from the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. First Series. New Edition. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1886. 1: 181-202.
1And therefore if to love can be desert,
2I am not all unworthy. Cheeks as pale
3As these you see, and trembling knees that fail
4To bear the burden of a heavy heart,—
5This weary minstrel-life that once was girt
7To pipe now ’gainst the valley nightingale
8A melancholy music,—why advert
9To these things? O Belovèd, it is plain
10I am not of thy worth nor for thy place!
11And yet, because I love thee, I obtain
12From that same love this vindicating grace
13To live on still in love, and yet in vain,—
14To bless thee, yet renounce thee to thy face.
Notes
6] Aornus: a large rock in India, conquered by Alexander the Great in his last siege (sometimes Aornos) Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1850
RPO poem Editors
Marc R. Plamondon
RPO Edition
2007
Form