Robert Browning

That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.

I.So far as our story approaches the end,
Which do you pity the most of us three?---
My friend, or the mistress of my friend
With her wanton eyes, or me?II.My friend was already too good to lose,…

I.
All June I bound the rose in sheaves.
Now, rose by rose,
I strip the

It once might have been, once only:
We lodged in a street together,
You, a sparrow on the housetop lonely,
I, a lone she-bird of his feather.Your trade was with sticks and clay,…

Scene.— Constantinople; the house of a Greek Conjurer. 1521.
Paracelsus.
Paracelsus.
Over the waters in the vaporous

PIANO DI SORRENTOFort, Fort, my beloved one,
Sit here by my side,
On my knees put up both little feet!
I was sure, if I tried,…

Marriage on earth seems such a counterfeit,
Mere imitation of the inimitable:
In heaven we have the real and true and sure.
’Tis there they neither marry nor are given…

He gazed and gazed and gazed and gazed,
Amazed, amazed, amazed, amazed.

What is he buzzing in my ears?
"Now that I come to die,
Do I view the world as a vale of tears?"
Ah, reverend sir, not I!What I viewed there once, what I view again…

I.Stand still, true poet that you are!
I know you; let me try and draw you.
Some night you'll fail us: when afar
You rise, remember one man saw you,…

No more wine? then we'll push back chairs and talk.
A final glass for me, though: cool, i' faith!
We ought to have our Abbey back, you see.
It's different, preaching in basilicas

I.That fawn-skin-dappled hair of hers,
And the blue eye
Dear and dewy,
And that infantine fresh air of hers!II.To think men cannot take you, Sweet,…

"As certain also of your own poets have said"—
(Acts 17.28)Cleon the poet (from the sprinkled isles,
Lily on lily, that o'erlace the sea
And laugh their pride when the light wave lisps "Greece")—…

FAME.See, as the prettiest graves will do in time,
Our poet's wants the freshness of its prime;
Spite of the sexton's browsing horse, the sods
Have struggled through its binding osier rods;…

I.
OUT of the little chapel I burst
Into the fresh night air again.
I had waited a good five minutes first…

All I can say is--I saw it!
The room was as bare as your hand.
I locked in the swarth little lady,--I swear,
From the head to the foot of her--well, quite as bare!…

TO E.B.B.IThere they are, my fifty men and women
Naming me the fifty poems finished!
Take them, Love, the book and me together;
Where the heart lies, let the brain lie also.IIRafael made a century of sonnets,…

The thought of Eglamor's least like a thought,
And yet a false one, was, "Man shrinks to nought"If matched with symbols of immensity;"Must quail, forsooth, before a quiet sky"Or sea, too little for their…

Scene.—Inside the Turret on the Hill above Asolo.
Luigi and his Mother entering.
If there blew wind, you'd hear a long sigh,
The utmost heaviness of music's heart.

Так, значит, с Шелли вы встретились раз?
И к вам подошел, быть может, он?
И разговор возник у вас?
Как странно всё, как сон!И до – вы прожили много дней,…

If one could have that little head of hers
Painted upon a background of pure gold,
Such as the Tuscan's early art prefers!
No shade encroaching on the matchless mould…

IГаммельн - в герцогстве Брауншвейг,
С Ганновером славным в соседстве.
С юга его омывает река
Везер, полна, широка, глубока.…

I.
Said Abner, ``At last thou art come!
Ere I tell, ere thou speak,``Kiss my cheek, wish me well!'' Then I wished it, and did kiss his cheek.
And he, ``Since the King

I.
You know, we French stormed Ratisbon:  A mile or so away,
On a little mound,
Napoleon  Stood on our storming-day;