Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A SEQUENCE OF SONNETS ON THE DEATH OF ROBERT BROWNING: 4, by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE


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A SEQUENCE OF SONNETS ON THE DEATH OF ROBERT BROWNING: 4, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: But he -- to him, who knows what gift is thine
Last Line: The sun, may match the sovereign eagle's eye.
Subject(s): Browning, Robert (1812-1889); Poetry & Poets


But he -- to him, who knows what gift is thine,
Death? Hardly may we think or hope, when we
Pass likewise thither where to-night is he,
Beyond the irremeable outer seas that shine
And darken round such dreams as half divine
Some sunlit harbour in that starless sea
Where gleams no ship to windward or to lee,
To read with him the secret of thy shrine.

There too, as here, may song, delight, and love,
The nightingale, the sea-bird, and the dove,
Fulfil with joy the splendour of the sky
Till all beneath wax bright as all above:
But none of all that search the heavens, and try
The sun, may match the sovereign eagle's eye.





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