English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 607. Sonnets from the Portuguese |
| | | XXX |
| | | Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
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| I SEE thine image through my tears to-night, | |
| And yet to-day I saw thee smiling. How | |
| Refer the cause?—Beloved, is it thou | |
| Or I, who makes me sad? The acolyte | |
| Amid the chanted joy and thankful rite | 5 |
| May so fall flat, with pale insensate brow, | |
| On the altar-stair. I hear thy voice and vow, | |
| Perplexed, uncertain, since thou art out of sight, | |
| As he, in his swooning ears, the choir’s Amen. | |
| Beloved, dost thou love? or did I see all | 10 |
| The glory as I dreamed, and fainted when | |
| Too vehement light dilated my ideal, | |
| For my soul’s eyes? Will that light come again, | |
| As now these tears come—falling hot and real? | |
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