English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 615. Sonnets from the Portuguese |
| | | XXXVIII |
| | | Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
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| FIRST time he kissed me, he but only kissed | |
| The fingers of this hand wherewith I write; | |
| And ever since, it grew more clean and white, | |
| Slow to world-greetings, quick with its “Oh, list,” | |
| When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst | 5 |
| I could not wear here, plainer to my sight, | |
| Than that first kiss. The second passed in height | |
| The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed, | |
| Half falling on the hair. O beyond meed! | |
| That was the chrism of love, which love’s own crown, | 10 |
| With sanctifying sweetness, did precede. | |
| The third upon my lips was folded down | |
| In perfect, purple state; since when, indeed, | |
| I have been proud and said, “My love, my own.” | |
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