January 10, 1846
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"Shall I tell you? It seems to me, to myself,
that no man was ever before to any woman
what you are to me-
-the fullness must be in proportion, you know,
to the vacancy...
and only I know what was behind-
-the long wilderness without the blossoming rose...
and the capacity for happiness,
like a black gaping hole, before this silver flooding.
Is it wonderful that I should stand as in a dream,
and disbelieve--not you--but my own fate?"
Tell me...
of my own deliverance,
of my most precious answer?
You are perennial as the morning sun
always unable to fail in amazement,
to speak of fate as though I were the deity-
-simply bestowing blossoms of blessings at will
casting them along the trail for the hungry to follow.
When I am the recipient, the serf who tracked your fragrance
beyond isolation's darkness, reaching clearings of wild flowers,
bright in the light of meadow grasses welcoming,
held on high as each blade pleads of me to lay down my burdens;
to linger here, to believe in this place, to bathe content
amid the enticement of your beautiful eyes-
-where the destiny of unspoken dreams find answers
and the past settles like dust.
A contest entry
- My 350th contest Invite Only ...Group One by poet2angels.
800 points, ended August 16, 2008, 14 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
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I really think that you have some great parts in here -
but as a whole, I have to be honest and say that this (for me) reads more like prose -
woo wee this was amazing work.. When I saw the list I knew when I started to read the poems I would be blown away, outstanding work here. Best of luck to you in the contest.
Blessings,
Frozentearz -
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Thanks
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Stunning, entrancing...
I have not read many of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poems, but I agree, your poem rivals hers and I'm beguiled by the bright meadows of heart where unspoken dreams bloom and take wing in this poem.
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My word you have outshone,
in free verse, E B Browning ... almost!
This poem is an excellent love poem and a wonderful springboard effect from her famous sonnet.
There is an enticing before and after effect of the absence and presence of true love.
This poem is very precise and elegant with fine images and fine phrasings. I shan't begin there but any poet will recognize them.
An excellent poem, indeed.
Ron.
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thank you Ron, your opinion lends great weight to my efforts here; though I doubt my chances of ever outshining such talent
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Through the magic of words, the gaps in time are closed, You and she are composing at the same desk, one writing as the other dozes on the couch, leaving the poem for the other to find in the morning. Beautiful!
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thank you my friend it has been awhile since I have written. I am glad to have done her justice.
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Beautiful words. ~Pamela
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Oh my~
Sigh~
I knew you would kill me and you are......Such emotion and romance...Such imagery and metaphor that reaches in and touches the reader ...I can feel this one and the scent lingers after the read....
I want to take this time to thank you, my friend for being a favorite of mine...I have been sighing since I first read you and haven't stopped since and never will...~
Lynda
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you are most welcome dear poet; writing is my destiny and readers are my lifeline; it is I that must thank you for the invitation and the support.
ken
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no thanks needed It is nothing other than pleasure to read you...
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I cannot do justice to
this write, but I can "linger here, to believe in this place" and like butterfly, settle from moment to moment, from word to word. Frans.
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