 | The Poetical Works of Robert Browning |  |
303
XXIX.
Then I—“Behold, my spirit bleeds,“Catches no more at broken reeds,—
“But lilies flower those reeds above:
“I let the world go, and take love!
“Love survives in me, albeit those
“I love be henceforth masks and shows,
“Not living men and women: still
“I mind how love repaired all ill,
“Cured wrong, soothed grief, made earth amends
“With parents, brothers, children, friends!
“Some semblance of a woman yet
“With eyes to help me to forget,
“Shall look on me; and I will match
“Departed love with love, attach
“Old memories to new dreams, nor scorn
“The poorest of the grains of corn
“I save from shipwreck on this isle,
“Trusting its barrenness may smile
“With happy foodful green one day,
“More precious for the pains. I pray,—
“Leave to love, only!”
| The Poetical Works of Robert Browning | |