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by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)

Now
Language: English 
Out of your whole life give but a moment!
...All of your life that has gone before,
...All to come after it,--so you ignore,
So you make perfect the present; condense,
In a rapture of rage, for perfection's endowment,
Thought and feeling and soul and sense,
Merged in a moment which gives me at last
You around me for once, you beneath me, above me--
Me, sure that, despite of time future, time past,
This tick of life-time's one moment you love me!
How long such suspension may linger? Ah, Sweet,
...The moment eternal--just that and no more--
...When ecstasy's utmost we clutch at the core,
While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut, and lips meet!

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889), "Now", appears in Asolando: Fancies and Facts, first published 1889 [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Now", 1920, published 1921 [voice and piano], from Dramatic Lyrics Set II, no. 1. [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 116

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