| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | XII. “Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed” | | By Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
| | (From Sonnets from the Portuguese)
YET, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed, | |
| And worthy of acceptation. Fire is bright, | |
| Let temple burn or flax! An equal light | |
| Leaps in the flame from cedar-plant or weed. | |
| And love is fire: and when I say at need, | 5 |
| I love thee—Mark!—I love thee!—in thy sight | |
| I stand transfigured, glorified aright, | |
| With conscience of the new rays that proceed | |
| Out of my face toward thine. There’s nothing low | |
| In love, when love the lowest. Meanest creatures | 10 |
| Who love God, God accepts while loving so. | |
| And what I feel, across the inferior features | |
| Of what I am, doth flash itself, and show | |
| How that great work of Love enhances Nature’s. | | | | |
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