Poem A Day

Classic poem

Sonnet 23 - Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead,

Wouldst thou miss any life in losing mine?

And would the sun for thee more coldly shine

Because of grave-damps falling round my head?

I marvelled, my Beloved, when I read

Thy thought so in the letter. I am thine—

But . . . so much to thee? Can I pour thy wine

While my hands tremble ? Then my soul, instead

Of dreams of death, resumes life's lower range.

Then, love me, Love! look on me—breathe on me!

As brighter ladies do not count it strange,

For love, to give up acres and degree,

I yield the grave for thy sake, and exchange

My near sweet view of Heaven, for earth with thee!

naturelovedeathbeautyhopefaithidentitytime
Public domain/Source

About this poem

First line
Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead,
Poet
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Themes
nature, love, death, beauty

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