by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
But only three in all God's universe
Language: English
But only three in all God's universe Have heard this word thou hast said, -- Himself, beside Thee speaking, and me listening! and replied One of us . . . that was God, . . . and laid the curse So darkly on my eyelids, as to amerce My sight from seeing thee, -- that if I had died, The deathweights, placed there, would have signified Less absolute exclusion. 'Nay' is worse From God than from all others, O my friend! Men could not part us with their worldly jars, Nor the seas change us, nor the tempests bend; Our hands would touch for all the mountain-bars: And, heaven being rolled between us at the end, We should but vow the faster for the stars.
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 2, first published 1850 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gena Branscombe (1881 - 1977), "But only three in all God's universe", published 1907 [ medium voice and piano ], from Love in a Life, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "But only three in all God's universe", published 1907 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) , no title, written 1908, appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 2 ; composed by Egon Joseph Wellesz.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 123