by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
Now
Language: English
Out of your whole life give but a moment! ...All of your life that has gone before, ...All to come after it,--so you ignore, So you make perfect the present; condense, In a rapture of rage, for perfection's endowment, Thought and feeling and soul and sense, Merged in a moment which gives me at last You around me for once, you beneath me, above me-- Me, sure that, despite of time future, time past, This tick of life-time's one moment you love me! How long such suspension may linger? Ah, Sweet, ...The moment eternal--just that and no more-- ...When ecstasy's utmost we clutch at the core, While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut, and lips meet!
Authorship:
- by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889), "Now", appears in Asolando: Fancies and Facts, first published 1889 [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Now", 1920, published 1921 [voice and piano], from Dramatic Lyrics Set II, no. 1. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 116