by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
Oh, yes! they love through all this...
Language: English
Oh, yes! they love through all this world of ours! I will not gainsay love, called love forsooth: I have heard love talked in my early youth, And since, not so long back but that the flowers Then gathered, smell still. Mussulmans and Giaours Throw kerchiefs at a smile, and have no ruth For any weeping. Polypheme's white tooth Slips on the nut if, after frequent showers, The shell is over-smooth, -- and not so much Will turn the thing called love, aside to hate Or else to oblivion. But thou art not such A lover, my Belovëd! thou canst wait Through sorrow and sickness, to bring souls to touch, And think it soon when others cry "Too late."
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 40, 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), "Oh, yes! they love through all this world of ours!", published 1910 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 40 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Libby Larsen (b. 1950), "Oh, yes! ", 1991 [ soprano and chamber orchestra or piano ], from Sonnets From the Portuguese , no. 5 [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. 40, 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: 118