by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
Can it be right to give what I can give?
Language: English
Can it be right to give what I can give? To let thee sit beneath the fall of tears As salt as mine, and hear the sighing years Re-sighing on my lips renunciative Through those infrequent smiles which fail to live For all thy adjurations? O my fears, That this can scarce be right! We are not peers So to be lovers; and I own, and grieve, That givers of such gifts as mine are, must Be counted with the ungenerous. Out, alas! I will not soil thy purple with my dust, Nor breathe my poison on thy Venice-glass, Nor give thee any love--which were unjust. Beloved, I only love thee! let it pass.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 9, first published 1850 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Can it be right to give what I can give?", published 1907 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard James Naylor (1907 - 1986), "Can it be right to give what I can give?", 1948, first performed 1955 [ mezzo-soprano and string quartet ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 9, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 114