English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 616. Sonnets from the Portuguese |
| | | XXXIX |
| | | Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
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| BECAUSE thou hast the power and own’st the grace | |
| To look through and behind this mask of me | |
| (Against which years have beat thus blanchingly | |
| With their rains), and behold my soul’s true face, | |
| The dim and weary witness of life’s race,— | 5 |
| Because thou hast the faith and love to see, | |
| Through that same soul’s distracting lethargy, | |
| The patient angel waiting for a place | |
| In the new Heavens,—because nor sin nor woe, | |
| Nor God’s infliction, nor death’s neighborhood, | 10 |
| Nor all which others viewing, turn to go, | |
| Nor all which makes me tired of all, self-viewed,— | |
| Nothing repels thee, … Dearest, teach me so | |
| To pour out gratitude, as thou dost, good! | |
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