Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 8, by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING


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SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 8, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: What can I give thee back, o liberal
Last Line: Go farther! Let it serve to trample on.
Variant Title(s): The Gift
Subject(s): Gifts & Giving


WHAT can I give thee back, O liberal
And princely giver, who hast brought the gold
And purple of thine heart, unstained, untold,
And laid them on the outside of the wall
For such as I to take or leave withal,
In unexpected largesse? am I cold,
Ungrateful, that for these most manifold
High gifts, I render nothing back at all?
Not so; not cold, -- but very poor instead.
Ask God who knows. For frequent tears have run
The colors from my life, and left so dead
And pale a stuff, it were not fitly done
To give the same as pillow to thy head.
Go farther! let it serve to trample on.





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