IF you do love as well as I, Then every minute from your heart A thought doth part; And winged with desire doth fly Till it hath met in a straight line A thought of mine So like to yours, we cannot know Whether of both doth come, or go, Till we define Which of us two that thought doth owe. I say, then, that your thoughts which pass Are not so much the thoughts you meant, As those I sent: For as my image in a glass Belongs not to the glass you see, But unto me, So when your fancy is so clear That you would think you saw me there, It needs must be That it was I did first appear. Likewise, when I send forth a thought, My reason tells me 'tis the same Which from you came, And which your beauteous image wrought. Thus, while our thoughts by turns do lead, None can precede; And thus, while in each other's mind Such interchanged forms we find, Our loves may plead To be of more than vulgar kind. May you then often think on me, And by that thinking know 'tis true I thought on you; I in the same belief will be, While by this mutual address We will possess A love must live when we do die; Which rare and secret property You will confess, If you do love as well as I. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MOUNTAINEER AND POET by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING SONNET TO GEORGE SAND: 2. A DESIRE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING SONNETS FROM SERIES RELATING TO EDGAR ALLEN POE: 1 by SARAH HELEN POWER WHITMAN SONNET: HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH RELIGION; AN ESSAY IN COUPLETS by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON |