Beloved, my Beloved... (Sonnet 20)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 
Beloved, my Beloved, when I think
That thou wast in the world a year ago,
What time I sate alone here in the snow
And saw no footprint, heard the silence sink
No moment at thy voice ... but, link by link,
Went counting all my chains, as if that so
They never could fall off at any blow
Struck by thy possible hand ... why, thus I drink
Of life's great cup of wonder! Wonderful,
Never to feel thee thrill the day or night
With personal act or speech,—nor ever cull
Some prescience of thee with the blossoms white
Thou sawest growing! Atheists are as dull,
Who cannot guess God's presence out of sight.
 

Poems by This Author

A Musical Instrument by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
What was he doing, the great god Pan
Flush or Faunus by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
You see this dog. It was but yesterday
How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
If thou must love me... (Sonnet 14) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Love by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
We cannot live, except thus mutually
My Letters! all dead paper... (Sonnet 28) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
My letters! all dead paper, mute and white!
Say over again... (Sonnet 21) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Say over again, and yet once over again
The Face of All the World (Sonnet 7) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The face of all the world is changed, I think
The Sleep by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Of all the thoughts of God that are
The Soul's Expression by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
With stammering lips and insufficient sound
To George Sand: A Desire by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Thou large-brained woman and large-hearted man
To George Sand: A Recognition by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
True genius, but true woman! dost deny
When our two souls... (Sonnet 22) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
When our two souls stand up erect and strong


Further Reading

Related Poems
If thou must love me... (Sonnet 14)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Untitled [I know now the beloved]
by Gregory Orr