by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
Sweet, thou hast trod on a heart
Language: English
Sweet, thou hast trod on a heart. Pass! there's a world full of men; And women as fair as thou art Must do such things now and then. Thou only hast stepped unaware, -- Malice, not one can impute; And why should a heart have been there In the way of a fair woman's foot? It was not a stone that could trip, Nor was it a thorn that could rend: Put up thy proud underlip! 'Twas merely the heart of a friend. And yet peradventure one day Thou, sitting alone at the glass, Remarking the bloom gone away, Where the smile in its dimplement was, And seeking around thee in vain From hundreds who flattered before, Such a word as,--"Oh, not in the main Do I hold thee less precious, -- but more!" Thou'lt sigh, very like, on thy part: -- "Of all I have known or can know, I wish I had only that Heart I trod upon, ages ago!"
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Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), "A false step", appears in Last Poems, first published 1862 [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 Hermann Frederic Löhr (1872 - 1943), "Sweet, thou hast trod on a heart", published 1912 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-25
Line count: 24
Word count: 159