Victorian Age
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" Text
"Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
What did Elizabeth Barrett Browning write?
"The Cry of the Children" Sonnets from the Portuguese "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point"
What did Lord Tennyson write?
"The Lady of Shalott" "Locksley Hall" "The Charge of the Light Brigade" "Crossing the Bar"
"The Cry of the Children" Summarize.
A poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; response to the report of a parliamentary commission on the labor of children in mines and factories - many details derive from the report; she protests against child labor. The children cannot enjoy their childhood, experience sorrow too early in life, are at risk of dying an early death, have lost hope and can no longer feel God's presence and they feel abandoned by God.
Who wrote "Crossing the Bar"?
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Who wrote "Locksley Hall"?
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Who wrote "The Lady of Shalott"?
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" REVIEW/ANALYSIS
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Six hundred men rode half a league's distance; they followed orders ("Forward the Light Brigade!" - meaning that the Russian brigade is in front of them; sounded like a command for the troop to move forward, and that is what they did) moving onwards to "the valley of Death" The men boldly rode toward the Russian artillery, "the jaws of Death, / Into the mouth of hell"; cannons thundered and they were shot at The troop drew their swords and tried to fight back; surrounded by smoke from the firing cannons The Russians dodge their swords, "shattered and sundered" (severed) The troop rides back; not all six hundred return Tennyson honors their nobility and states that they shall be deemed glorious
"The Lady of Shalott" REVIEW/ANALYSIS
Alfred, Lord Tennyson describes the scene: a river is surrounded by long fields that lead to Camelot; people watch the lilies blow around an island on the river called Shalott The Lady of Shalott resides in a small castle that overlooks a garden on the island She seems to be very hidden; no one gets to see her, but reapers (harvesters) do hear her singing; reapers call her a "fairy" She weaves with colorful "webs" and is told to never stop and look at Camelot; she shall be cursed if she pauses her weaving, but she does not know what the curse entails; she complies On the mirror she uses to check her progress, she can see "shadows" of the world: sees the reflection of the main road that leads to Camelot, where the river whirls and peasants pass by She sees many people pass by; even knights pass by her small abode and she is reminded that she has no knight She remains content with her endless weaving nonetheless; sometimes heard funerals or newlywed couples coming from Camelot The Lady of Shalott becomes sick of these "shadows" (mirror images of the outside world that she cannot partake in) She catches a glimpse of Sir Lancelot on his horse, a knight dedicated to guard with his shield and weapon; his horse's harness and armor made merry sounds and shined like diamonds in the sun A shooting star passes over Shalott; Sir Lancelot sings as he passes the river The Lady of Shalott dropped what she was doing and walked through the room; she sees the water lilies, the knight's feathered helmet, and Camelot The "web" flew and cracked the mirror; she has been cursed A rainy storm begins; The Lady finds a boat, writes "The Lady of Shalott" on it, and sails to Camelot As she floats down the river towards Camelot, she sings her last song and dies Her body enters Camelot on the boat; people watch her pass by and they notice her name on the boat They do not recognize her; all the knights of Camelot became afraid and crossed themselves Lancelot, however, got a closer look and compliments her beauty; prays that God "lend her grace"
Victorian Age
Dramatic Monologues - Robert Browning Occasional poems - Charge of the Light Brigade Religion - Goblin Market (EBB), Fra Lippo Lippo (RB-painting subjects debated), Hopkins, Dante "The Blessed Damozel" Social protest/Political - EBB (child labor) Social Class/Mobility- hypocrisy - Mrs Warren's Profession (Bernard Shaw), Locksley Hall (Marrying into wealth); deconstruction of Victorian moral and social values Women's Limitations/Lack of Opportunities- Mrs. Warren's Profession Nature - Matthew Arnold (loss of spirituality, connection with nature, Wordsworth) Dover Beach, Lines Written in Kensington Gardens TMOC Industrialism Criticism - God's Grandeur (economy>spirituality), Goblin Market (commercialism) Inscape/Instress - Hopkins theory (religious) "Pied Beauty" Aestheticism - Oscar Wilde (art for art's sake), Dante Rossetti (beauty)
Who wrote "Sonnets from the Portuguese"?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Who wrote "The Cry of the Children"?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Who wrote "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point"?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"The Cry of the Children" REVIEW/ANALYSIS
Epigraph is from Euripides' Grecian tragedy Medea; Medea speaks these lines before killing her children in vengeance against her husband, who has taken a new wife: "Alas, my children, why do you look at me?" (1-4) The speaker tells her "brothers" (mankind) if they hear the weeping children; she states that the children in question experience sorrow too early in their lives; their mothers cannot comfort them when they are crying (5-8) Contrasts these miserable children to happy young animals and nature (15-20) These children experience what others only experience in old age (26-36) The elder's suffering is prioritized over that of the children; the children claim that "graves are for the old" (37-52) The children continue speaking: they acknowledge that they may die before their time; in death, the children shall no longer suffer and that it is a good thing for children to die young (53-56) Speaker is uneasy of their seeking death in life; they are preparing themselves for the worst as to avoid heartbreak (57-76) Speaker urges the children to escape and enjoy their childhood while they can, but they seem to be complacent with their predicament: "Leave us quiet in the dark of the coal-shadows, / From your pleasures fair and fine!"; they claim to be too tired and weak for child's play and would only sleep on the meadows; exhausted from mining and factory work (77-88) The iron wheels turn and drone on ad nauseum, seemingly driving the children crazy (89-100) Speaker pleads the iron wheels to be silent; wishes for the children to listen to their breath instead; to be able to acknowledge that they are living, breathing beings and to feel anything other than metal; to escape from the confines of the mines and factories, freeing the children of the wheels' oppression; to experience the life God has to offer to them in their youth (101) Speaker tells mankind to to pray to God; the children believe they cannot be heard due to the iron wheels' droning; even people on Earth, who are closer in proximity, pass by the children and ignore their cries; likewise, the children cannot hear the strangers at the door (defenseless to their work); God can only hear angels singing (deceased children?) (113-136) The children only pray these two words: "Our Father"; hope God will hear it while the angels pause their song; if he heard, he would answer their prayer and welcome the children to Heaven; but He remains silent and their bosses tell them that God commands them to continue working; they begin to doubt God; speaker claims that the children doubt God because they do not receive love in the world, unable to see the possibilities of His love (137-160) The children cry before all; they do not know of God's glory/His and earth's orphans; they are enslaved and deprived of calmness and wisdom The children ask how long must they suffer; acknowledges that the upper classes exploit them; their cries shall continue to curse those who allow their terrible working conditions
What is "Locksley Hall" about? REVIEW/ANALYSIS
First person perspective of the jilted man; he asks his friends to leave him alone in Locksley Hall, a place that overlooks the sea; in the past, the speaker had visited the hall and watched the constellations (11-16) The speaker has hope for the future (20) The speaker falls in love in the spring; he had convinced his love for his cousin Amy and she tells him she loves him too (31-32) Hourglass implies that this love is temporary (35-38) They had spent many days together as lovers (39) He resents Amy for being shallow; her parents had convinced her to leave him He claims that she has made a mistake in taking another suitor who does not love her like he does; implies that he won't treat her much better than his animals and is unmannerly and a drunk; the speaker tells her that she will be miserable with him The speaker would rather see her dead, or to be dying in each other's arms, than with another man He blames society for his heartbreak; "social wants" - her new suitor has money He decides to let her go; she "bears bitter fruit" (sinful? - greed) He asks himself if he would be able to forgive her; decides that she must have never loved him; feels sad reminiscing their happy moments together He suggests that her suitor will be unfaithful and will abuse her when drunk and she shall be miserable and miss the speaker (87) She shall have a baby that will bring her some solace He envisions her in old age with a daughter (94) and will give her daughter bad advice and she too shall suffer as she had He tells Amy to be happy nevertheless; he has to accept the circumstances (99-102) He doubts that he will ever find a suitable partner; content with admitting defeat Amy's honor had been alleviated by the money she gained in marrying a wealthy suitor He wishes to go back in time when he didn't feel so sad; when he had hope for the future and technological advances to come (119-124) He imagined the future with commercial transport in the sky (planes?) Implies than mankind will become dictated by greed and will never be satiated with their own technology They may acquire a lot of knowledge, but it will not make them wise His comrades sound the bugle horn to call for him (line 2); he expects they will see him as a fool for having loved Amy He wishes that he could leave Europe where trade is nonexistent, away from commerce; wishes to escape industrial society He imagines finding a wife and having children in this hypothetical life (173) Deep down, the speaker knows that he cannot live such a "barbarous" life; does not want to live among uncivilized, savage people in China (considered their society as unprogressive and static) (186) He still cannot help but have hope for the future He hopes Locksley Hall gets struck by lightning and he leaves
Portuguese Sonnet 43 - Text
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. EBB
"The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point" Excerpt
I am black, I am black; And yet God made me, they say. But if He did so, smiling back He must have cast His work away Under the feet of His white creatures, With a look of scorn,--that the dusky features Might be trodden again to clay EBB
"Fra Lippo Lippi" ANALYSIS
Lippo introduces himself and asks to be heard out; he had been seen at an alley where "women leave their doors open"; he claims to be innocent and a devout religious man He was caught out late at night by the guardsmen, and they interrogate him He calls those who saw him rats who are meddling in his business; harassing him, a "wee white mouse," who had kept them company when they were in need He demands them to "know [their] betters" (12) and to stop smothering him with accusations The speaker describes himself as somebody who is living with his friend (a patron, his banker, and ruler of Florence) Cosimo of the Medici He tells his opposers to remind him on the day they are hanged how they had attacked him He addresses the officer in charge of the patrol of policemen or watchmen; tells him that dishonest people do not discredit him; the watchmen treat them like fish to catch and manipulate The speaker insists the watchman who saw him looks like Judas to a tee He tells the officer in charge that he is not angry; insists the officers take his watchmen out to drink to the generosity of the "House that harbors" him; his is protected by the government through his relation to Medici He continues describing the aforementioned watchman, claiming that he wanted to paint him "elbowing... his comrade" (32), comparing this to the slave who had held John Baptist's head after his beheading Brother Lippo wished to set things straight and explains; he had been a recluse in his home during the spring carnival before Lent, painting for God and for saints; he leaned out to get some fresh air and heard a song; heard scurrying of little feet (women) and a nervous laugh; he had seen three slim figures Lippo uses the bedsheets to create a ladder and leaves his den through the window; he goes after them and he finds them next to Saint Laurence church The party welcomes him and he joins the festivities He had decided to return home to bed and sleep before continuing his painting of Saint Jerome beating his chest; he is then caught by the watchman He then describes his life story, explaining that he had not chosen his occupation as a monk: he was a starving orphan who was taken by Old Aunt Lapaccia to a monastery (she couldn't take care of him) and made to become a monk at the age of eight; he was taught to give up the world's "pride and greed" The convent tried to figure out what services he may provide them; they tried to make him gain knowledge through books He had seen how wasteful, heartless, and relentless society was as a poor boy; he had grown a sharp sense of himself and his soul and was cautious of feeling hungry His experience with others helped him to draw; he would draw the people he observed in church inside of his choral books The head of the Carmelite convent (the Prior) sees his potential as a skillful artist and orders him to paint, which came to Lippo as a relief; he draws everything he possibly can He describes drawing what he had seen at the church: he sees a man who had just murdered somebody, surrounded by children, including his victim's son He also sees a girl with an apron over her head who left the man a loaf of bread, her earrings, and a bunch of flowers; she prayed and left afterwards The monks discovered that Lippo could paint people realistically and are amazed at his skill; the Prior and the other higher-up monks, however, demanded him to draw people's souls and not their actual forms; they suggest that only holy people should be immortalized in art and that people should not be glorified Lippo disagrees with the Prior; he insists that one's appearance may be indicative of their soul; beauty is holy as it had been created by God He admits to have broken rules; he claims to value his independence, yet he is constantly discouraged by the monks He eventually abided by the convent's demands and unhappily drew as they wanted him to; however, he implies that they do not know all He is tempted by what the world has to offer him through humanly experience; it is human nature to enjoy life; wants to experience life (251) (265) Asserts that he is still holy although he had done rebellious things Namedrops Guidi as his pupil, implying that he will eventually follow his influence He argues that the world, God's creation, should be marveled at and that painters should paint for pleasure, their art not limited to holy purposes He refutes the monks that may believe that nature should not be reproduced in art: he explains that people appreciate the world better when it is painted; artistic expression is meant to be a form of appreciation, a blessing from God There is a debate of what are considered appropriate subjects for art and how they should be portrayed He promises to paint a large art piece as recompensation of his rebellious tendencies in six months' time; he evades the guardsman's detainment and goes home
"Locksley Hall" Excerpt
Men, my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new: That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do: For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be; Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales; Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain'd a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm, With the standards of the peoples plunging thro' the thunder-storm; Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furl'd In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law. So I triumph'd ere my passion sweeping thro' me left me dry, Left me with the palsied heart, and left me with the jaundiced eye; Eye, to which all order festers, all things here are out of joint: Science moves, but slowly, slowly, creeping on from point to point: Slowly comes a hungry people, as a lion, creeping nigher, Glares at one that nods and winks behind a slowly-dying fire.
Who wrote "My Last Duchess," "Porphyria's Lover," and "Fra Lippo Lippi"
Robert Browning
"My Last Duchess" ANALYSIS
Robert Browning The speaker (Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrera in Italy) is showing the agent the portrait of his "last Duchess... as if she were alive" He explains that a painter named Fra Pandolf had painted her portrait; implies that the agent had not seen anything as authentic (true to life) as this portrait She is blushing in the portrait, and he explains that he was not the cause; states that the painter might have told her to adjust her cloak to expose her wrist a little more or that "[p]aint / [m]ust never hope to reproduce the faint / [h]alf-flush that dies along her throat" (17-19) - a seemingly courteous statement at the time - caused her to blush The duke continues to describe his late wife as somebody who was too easily impressed and made happy; she liked everything she saw (31-36) He did not feel special to her and felt underappreciated; yet he feels like this is unfair of him to stoop so low as to complain of such "triflings"; this was her only flaw in his eyes, and this does not justify his resentment He commanded her to accommodate his needs and her smiles "stopped altogether" He then asks his guest, the agent, to accompany him to meet with other company, the Count; the duke wishes to marry his kin The Count (based on the Count of Tyrol) is said to be known to be very generous; the duke implies that he will surely accept his dowry in order to marry his daughter (in the real story, the duke is interested in the Count's niece) The speaker tells the agent to view Neptune (Roman god of sea) "taming a seahorse" (rarity); Claus of Innsbruck (a symbol of the office of poet laureate) had cast in bronze for him
Portuguese Sonnet 21 Text
Say over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated Should seem "a cuckoo-song," as thou dost treat it, Remember, never to the hill or plain, Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed. Belovèd, I, amid the darkness greeted By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain Cry, "Speak once more—thou lovest!" Who can fear Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll, Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year? Say thou dost love me, love me, love me—toll The silver iterance!—only minding, Dear, To love me also in silence with thy soul. EBB
Portuguese Sonnet 22 - EBB Summary/Analysis
Silent souls get closer to each other and creates a passionate love; "wings" connote freedom Together the couple can find happiness on earth; nothing can stop them from living happily and in love until death separates them Men who are determined to be on the contrary "recoil away" and "isolate pure spirits" (may be an allusion to her father)
Portuguese Sonnet 21 - EBB Summary/Analysis
Speaker wants her lover to continuously tell her he loves her, similar to how a cuckoo repeats its song; Compares herself to Spring who requires the cuckoo's song to flourish; Feelings of doubt incite her to request her lover's declaration of love; she can never grow tiresome of hearing those words (13-14) Volta? Hearing those words would not suffice if he did not actually love her
"The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point" REVIEW/ANALYSIS
Stanzas 1-6: Speaker is a runaway slave The slave stands where the exiled Pilgrims landed and became ancestors "God was thanked for liberty"; ironic because the slave is trying to seek freedom The slave bends her knee on the mark the Pilgrims had left She addresses the Pilgrims; they had come to this land without rushing while she came running away from white slave owners' whips and gasping for air The slave decides to curse the land for its false promise of freedom Claims that God had seemed to have created her just to have her suffer, casted her away for white men to exploit God also created other dark creatures: dark birds, streams, frogs, and the night The blackness in humankind, however, is condemned: "like prison-bars", black people cannot escape their appearance Stanzas 7-12: All mankind live on earth under God God must love all of his creations God can still make mankind hot (loved) or cold (ignored) Animals fear mankind; wonders if a bobcat would challenge her *Reflects on her past* Reminisced about the time another slave looked at her tenderly as he stood on the street; the speaker had laughed After that strange experience, the two slaves' spirits grew as if they were free; felt like they were strong enough to conquer the world Drivers on the road drove them away, but they did not care; they still felt somewhat free While she was working on the field, the speaker's friend passed by and told her he loved her When it rained, her friend would not shake but smile inside the hut and he would carve the speaker a coconut bowl during the hurricanes; the friend seemed to be an overall great support system for the speaker The speaker would sing his name over and over; sang low so that neighboring slave-girls might not guess it was only a name (most likely no longer alive) Stanzas 13-18: "We were..." - past tense; the couple both had looked to God when in need, but all was in vain; He never answered their prayers; now only she is left to cry to God for help They could not have claimed love/bliss; her friend had been taken away from her; he left bloodstains The speaker is then raped by the white men, disallowing her to grieve for her love in peace; she would have rather died She conceived a white child that she could not bear to look at; she decided to suffocate the baby Stanzas 19-24 "Roots of the mango"? (137) She hid the baby's face when she saw the "master's look" The baby dies of suffocation; compared her child to a mango Angels had "plucked" her fruit to make wine and to suck her child's soul; "trick of the angels white" - freed the white child's spirit The speaker carried her deceased child for about a month Stanzas 25-30: She carried the baby to the forest and buries him; the angels upon the stars pointed and mocked her task Underneath the dark ground, the baby is also dark in the shadows, something that gave the speaker some comfort She smiled and sang; they had reconciled; she heard her song coming from the grave; the child sang along with her, joining their souls *Present* She looks at the sea where the Pilgrims came from; their ghosts leave before the morning comes to evade her scornful glares White men begin hunting her down, and she attempts to escape from them (208) She assumes they had killed her best friend - "the black eagle" Stanzas 31-36: A man attempts to stone her; the five men stand side by side; the speaker wishes for all of them to have a deceased child for their wives' sake (they must despise the half-black children) However, she (white women/ wives of the slave owners) may keep her children and be happy She claims to not feel resentment; she is black and her fierceness scares these white men She has marks on her wrists from being tied up to the "flogging-place"; she did not scream; she hung like an empty shell She cursed them all as she had done to her child; hopes that slaves will revolt against their masters - their curse must answer their whips; slavers must pay for their terrible actions The speaker claims that their hatred for each other has no reason; all had forgotten Christ's wounds that had saved them all; no need for any more pain Asserts that white men are not gods; nothing good will come from bloodshed and torture She tells the men to "stand off" All slaves cannot fit onto one cross; notion - too many lives are being sacrificed; unnecessary evildoing; they shall overpower them and "crush" them by revolting The speaker faints and stares at the sky and she seems to float with the clouds as if she was going to die and join her child in the "death-dark" (not Heaven?) She ends the poem by saying that she will not curse white men because her heartbreak is unworthy of empathy
"Crossing the Bar" Text
Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.
Portuguese Sonnet 32 - Text
The first time that the sun rose on thine oath To love me, I looked forward to the moon To slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon And quickly tied to make a lasting troth. Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe; And, looking on myself, I seemed not one For such man's love!—more like an out-of-tune Worn viol, a good singer would be wroth To spoil his song with, and which, snatched in haste, Is laid down at the first ill-sounding note. I did not wrong myself so, but I placed A wrong on thee. For perfect strains may float 'Neath master-hands, from instruments defaced,— And great souls, at one stroke, may do and dote. EBB
Portuguese Sonnet 43 - EBB Summary/Analysis
The speaker declares her love, comparing it to a variety of intense emotions she had experienced throughout her life Refers to her faith multiple times: she loves him as much as her soul can reach when searching for God and a meaning for her existence; loves to the level of the need to meditate in prayer every day, as much as men strive for their human rights as they purely turn away from praise, with the passion in her grievances and with her childhood's faith, and loved him with the love she seemed to have lost when she "lost" her saints She loves him with her entire being and experiences combined Ends the sonnet by saying that, if God allows it, they shall be better in love after they die and go to Heaven She seems to have lost hope, but her love helped restore her faith in God after falling in love with him; she has hope that they shall continue their love forever, even after death
Portuguese Sonnet 32 - EBB Summary/Analysis
The speaker fears that a quick declaration of love may lead to a quick end of it: "Quick-loving hearts... may quickly loath" (5) She doubted she could ever be worthy of love; any man who courts her must be ruining his chances for a better wife; she considers herself dispensable due to her flaws (like an out-of-tune violin) She acknowledges that she had blamed him for choosing her as a partner; last couplet states that he has the ability to make flawed instruments sound beautiful; therefore, he improves her confidence, and they are able to fall in love EBB
"Crossing the Bar" ANALYSIS
The sun is setting and the evening star is visible; Tennyson has a "calling" - fate Wants the mournful sound of the sand bar (a ridge of sand formed in the sea by the action of tides and currents) on the harbor to be silenced when he goes out to sea (he wants there to be no disturbances or obstacles in his way) The tides seem to be "asleep"; silent and lacking foam; the tides that had come from the deep ocean turns back home Nightfall; the speaker does not want to feel sad when he sets off to sea and bids farewell (Death?) When he goes, he will escape the boundaries of "Time and Place" The sea will take him far; he hopes to see his "Pilot" face to face (God?)
"Locksley Hall" Summary
The theme of the poem is the bitterness of unrequited love. The speaker first recalls the happy times at Locksley Hall with Amy, the woman he loved. But after Amy left him, he became extremely bitter and angry. He heaps curses on her and the man she chose. He ends the poem by hoping that a storm destroys Locksley Hall.
The Cry of the Children Text Excerpt:
They look up, with their pale and sunken faces, And their look is dread to see, For they think you see their angels in their places, With eyes meant for Deity ;— "How long," they say, "how long, O cruel nation, Will you stand, to move the world, on a child's heart, — Stifle down with a mailed heel its palpitation, And tread onward to your throne amid the mart ? Our blood splashes upward, O our tyrants, And your purple shews your path ; But the child's sob curseth deeper in the silence Than the strong man in his wrath !" -EBB
"The Lady of Shalott" Excerpt
Under tower and balcony, By garden wall and gallery, A pale, pale corpse she floated by, Deadcold, between the houses high, Dead into tower'd Camelot. Knight and burgher, lord and dame, To the planked wharfage came: Below the stern they read her name, The Lady of Shalott.
Portuguese Sonnet 22 Text
When our two souls stand up erect and strong, Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher, Until the lengthening wings break into fire At either curvéd point, — what bitter wrong Can the earth do to us, that we should not long Be here contented ? Think. In mounting higher, The angels would press on us, and aspire To drop some golden orb of perfect song Into our deep, dear silence. Let us stay Rather on earth, Belovèd, — where the unfit Contrarious moods of men recoil away And isolate pure spirits, and permit A place to stand and love in for a day, With darkness and the death-hour rounding it. EBB
