by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
With the same heart, I said, I'll answer...
Language: English
With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee As those, when thou shalt call me by my name -- Lo, the vain promise! is the same, the same, Perplexed and ruffled by life's strategy? When called before, I told how hastily I dropped my flowers or brake off from a game. To run and answer with the smile that came At play last moment, and went on with me Through my obedience. When I answer now, I drop a grave thought, break from solitude; Yet still my heart goes to thee -- ponder how -- Not as to a single good, but all my good! Lay thy hand on it, best one, and allow That no child's foot could run fast as this blood.
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Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 34, first published 1847 [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), "With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee", published 1910 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 34 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Libby Larsen (b. 1950), "With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee", 1991 [ soprano and chamber orchestra or piano ], from Sonnets From the Portuguese , no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , no title, appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 34, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 122