Sonnet 08 - What can I give thee back, O liberal

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



VIII

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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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
71

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCABBCDEDEDF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 578
Words 115
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

All Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems | Elizabeth Barrett Browning Books

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