by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
And wilt thou have me fashion into...
Language: English
And wilt thou have me fashion into speech The love I bear thee, finding words enough, And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, Between our faces, to cast light on each? -- I drop it at thy feet. I cannot teach My hand to hold my spirit so far off From myself -- me -- that I should bring thee proof In words, of love hid in me out of reach. Nay, let the silence of my womanhood Commend my woman-love to thy belief, -- Seeing that I stand unwon, however wooed, And rend the garment of my life, in brief, By a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude, Lest one touch of this heart convey its grief.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 13, 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), "And wilt thou have me fashion into speech", published 1910 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , no title, appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 13, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 115