Sonnets from the Portuguese: XIV

Sonnets from the Portuguese: XIV

Original Text
A Selection from the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. First Series. New Edition. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1886. 1: 181-202.
1If thou must love me, let it be for nought
2Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
3“I love her for her smile—her look—her way
4Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
5That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
6A sense of pleasant ease on such a day”—
7For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
8Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,
9May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
10Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,—
11A creature might forget to weep, who bore
12Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
13But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
14Thou may’st love on, through love’s eternity.

Notes

5] certes: certainly (archaic) Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1850
RPO poem Editors
Marc R. Plamondon
RPO Edition
2007
Form
sonnet