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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 31 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

Poet Analysis

First Line: THOU COMEST! ALL IS SAID WITHOUT A WORD
Last Line: LIKE CALLOW BIRDS LEFT DESERT TO THE SKIES.
Subject(s): MAN-WOMAN RELATIONSHIPS; MALE-FEMALE RELATIONS;

THOU comest! all is said without a word.
I sit beneath thy looks, as children do
In the noon-sun, with souls that tremble through
Their happy eyelids from an unaverred
Yet prodigal inward joy. Behold, I erred
In that last doubt! and yet I cannot rue
The sin most, but the occasion -- that we two
Should for a moment stand unministered
By a mutual presence. Ah, keep near and close,
Thou dovelike help! and, when my fears would rise,
With thy broad heart serenely interpose:
Brood down with thy divine sufficiencies
These thoughts which tremble when bereft of those,
Like callow birds left desert to the skies.



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