English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 587. Sonnets from the Portuguese |
| | | X |
| | | Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
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| 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-plank 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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