| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | IX. “The face of all the world is changed” | | By Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
| | (From Sonnets from the Portuguese)
THE FACE of all the world is changed, I think, | |
| Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul | |
| Move still, oh, still, beside me; as they stole | |
| Betwixt me and the dreadful outer brink | |
| Of obvious death, where I, who thought to sink, | 5 |
| Was caught up into love and taught the whole | |
| Of life in a new rhythm. The cup of dole | |
| God gave for baptism, I am fain to drink, | |
| And praise its sweetness, sweet, with thee anear; | |
| The names of country, heaven, are changed away, | 10 |
| For where thou art or shalt be, there or here; | |
| And this—this lute and song—loved yesterday | |
| (The singing angels know) are only dear | |
| Because thy name moves right in what they say. | | | | |
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