Sonnet 13 - And wilt thou have me fashion into speech

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



XIII

And wilt thou have me fashion into speech
The love I bear thee, finding words enough,
And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough,
Between our faces, to cast light on each?—
I drop it at thy feet. I cannot teach
My hand to hold my spirit so far off
From myself—me—that I should bring thee proof
In words, of love hid in me out of reach.
Nay, let the silence of my womanhood
Commend my woman-love to thy belief,—
Seeing that I stand unwon, however wooed,
And rend the garment of my life, in brief,
By a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude,
Lest one touch of this heart convey its grief

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

35 sec read
213

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAACDAEFGFGF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 597
Words 118
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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