by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
Indeed this very love which is my boast
Language: English
Indeed this very love which is my boast, And which, when rising up from breast to brow, Doth crown me with a ruby large enow To draw men's eyes and prove the inner cost, -- This love even, all my worth, to the uttermost, I should not love withal, unless that thou Hadst set me an example, shown me how, When first thine earnest eyes with mine were crossed, And love called love. And thus, I cannot speak Of love even, as a good thing of my own: Thy soul hath snatched up mine all faint and weak, And placed it by thee on a golden throne, -- And that I love (O soul, we must be meek!) Is by thee only, whom I love alone.
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Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 12, first published 1847 [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 Louis Cheslock (1898 - 1981), "Indeed this very love which is my boast" [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Indeed this very love which is my boast", published 1910 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard James Naylor (1907 - 1986), "Indeed this very love which is my boast", 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) , no title, appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 12, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 124