Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 12 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

Poet Analysis

First Line: INDEED THIS VERY LOVE WHICH IS MY BOAST
Last Line: IS BY THEE ONLY, WHOM I LOVE ALONE.
Subject(s): LOVE;

INDEED this very love which is my boast,
And which, when rising up from breast to brow,
Doth crown me with a ruby large enow
To draw men's eyes and prove the inner cost, --
This love even, all my worth, to the uttermost,
I should not love withal, unless that thou
Hadst set me an example, shown me how,
When first thine earnest eyes with mine were crossed,
And love called love. And thus, I cannot speak
Of love even, as a good thing of my own:
Thy soul hath snatched up mine all faint and weak,
And placed it by thee on a golden throne, --
And that I love (O soul, we must be meek!)
Is by thee only, whom I love alone.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net