Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead,
Wouldst thou miss any life in losing mine?
And would the sun for thee more coldly shine
Because of grave-damps falling round my head?
I marvelled, my Belovëd, when I read
Thy thought so in the letter. I am thine—
But . . . so much to thee? Can I pour thy wine
While my hands tremble? Then my soul, instead
Of dreams of death, resumes life’s lower range.
Then, love me, Love! look on me—breathe on me!
As brighter ladies do not count it strange,
For love, to give up acres and degree,
I yield the grave for thy sake, and exchange
My near sweet view of heaven, for earth with thee!
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Notes on "Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead"
This is poem number XXIII (23) of Sonnets from the
Portuguese, written by Elizabeth Barrett for Robert Browning in the 1840s, during their courtship. Obviously a
response to a letter in which Browning asserts his undying love. "I yield the grave..." - Throughout the early part of
their courtship, Elizabeth, an invalid, was convinced she was about to die and that their love was hopeless. She has now
given up this obsession. In 1861 she did indeed die in Brownings' arms after a happy marriage, and his love was
unaltered.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) is now best remembered for her
"Sonnets from the Portuguese," a cycle of sonnets written during her courtship with Robert Browning.
In fact however, she was an accomplished poet before she met Browning.
Most of her poems were not about romantic love.
They were topical poems about political issues such as child labor, slavery and the Italian national cause.
Elizabeth Barrett was a "hopeless" invalid and recluse, six years older than Robert Browning. They were happily married and had a son.
The fame of the poets, and the fairy-tale story of the girl who was thought to be doomed to be an old maid,
rescued from a loveless existence and brought back to life and
the world by a gallant suitor, kindled the imagination of the public.
Copyright - All original materials at this Web site are copyright by the authors and/or by the principals of yu-hu.com. Do not copy materials without permission. Please refer to copyright notice.
Comments and Submissions - If you would like to comment, or if you would like to send us your poems or poems of others to be included here, we would love hear from you. In submitting your work or work of others you agree to the conditions for submissions.
If you agree, then click below or type the address from the graphic into the address field of your e-mail program:
