Poem by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning

Sonnets from the Portuguese. 34. With the same heart, I said, I’ll answer thee

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.

1. Bianca among the Nightingales
2. Lord Walter's Wife
3. Substitution
4. The Soul's Expression
5. Sonnets from the Portuguese. 26. I lived with visions for my company

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