XX - Beloved, my beloved, when I think
Beloved, my Beloved, when I think / That thou wast in the world a year ago,
XI - And therefore if to love can be desert
❦
And therefore if to love can be desert,
I am not all unworthy. Cheeks as pale
As these you see, and trembling knees that fail
To bear the burden of a heavy heart,--
This weary minstrel-life that once was girt
To climb Aornus, and can scarce avail
To pipe now 'gainst the valley nightingale
A melancholy music,--why advert
To these things? O Beloved, it is plain
I am not of thy worth nor for thy place!
And yet, because I love thee, I obtain
From that same love this vindicating grace
To live on still in love, and yet in vain,--
To bless thee, yet renounce thee to thy face.
More poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
XV - Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear
Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear / Too calm and sad a face in front of thine;
XXXV - If I leave all for thee, wilt thou exchange
If I leave all for thee, wilt thou exchange / And be all to me? Shall I never miss
XXXVIII - First time he kissed me, he but only kissed
First time he kissed me, he but only kissed / The fingers of this hand wherewith I write;