My poet, thou canst touch on all the notes
God set between His After and Before,
And strike up and strike off the general roar
Of the rushing worlds a melody that floats
In a serene air purely. Antidotes
Of medicated music, answering for
Mankind’s forlornest uses, thou canst pour
From thence into their ears. God’s will devotes
Thine to such ends, and mine to wait on thine.
How, Dearest, wilt thou have me for most use?
A hope, to sing by gladly? or a fine
Sad memory, with thy songs to interfuse?
A shade, in which to sing—of palm or pine?
A grave, on which to rest from singing? Choose.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Notes on "My poet thou canst touch on all the notes"
This is poem number XVII (17) of Sonnets from the
Portuguese, written by Elizabeth Barrett for Robert Browning in the 1840s, during their courtship. Elizabeth is now
willing to serve her lover in any way he wishes.
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:
