Sonnet XXVIII: My Letters

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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My letters-- all dead paper, mute and white!
And yet they seem alive and quivering
Against my tremulous hands which loose the string
And let them drop down on my knee to-night,
This said,--he wished to have me in his sight
Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring
To come and touch my hand...a simple thing,
Yet I wept for it!--this...the paper's light...
Said, Dear, I love thee; and I sank and quailed
As if God's future thundered on my past.
This said, I am thine--and so its ink has paled
With lying at my heart that beat too fast.
And this...O Love, thy words have ill availed
If, what this said, I dared repeat at last!

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Comments1
  • kareemclowes30

    I remember reading this poem when i was a bit younger and it kinda flew over my head back then 😅 . But now that i'm looking at it again, it's kinda touching how the poet express her feelings through letters. It's like an old fashioned love story, so sweet ❤️. I wish we could have that kind of love nowadays where simple touch of hand would mean a lot and our words could carry so much emotion. Really makes u think about how much things have changed over time and how we communicate love today... take me back to the past please 😭🕰️