PoemA Man’s Requirements
Author / PoetElizabeth Barrett Browning
TagsDevoted, Romantic, Tender

I
Love me Sweet, with all thou art,
Feeling, thinking, seeing;
Love me in the lightest part,
Love me in full being.

II

Love me with thine open youth
In its frank surrender;
With the vowing of thy mouth,
With its silence tender.

III

Love me with thine azure eyes,
Made for earnest grantings;
Taking colour from the skies,
Can Heaven’s truth be wanting?

IV

Love me with their lids, that fall
Snow-like at first meeting;
Love me with thine heart, that all
Neighbours then see beating.

V

Love me with thine hand stretched out
Freely — open-minded:
Love me with thy loitering foot, —
Hearing one behind it.

VI

Love me with thy voice, that turns
Sudden faint above me;
Love me with thy blush that burns
When I murmur ‘Love me!’

VII

Love me with thy thinking soul,
Break it to love-sighing;
Love me with thy thoughts that roll
On through living — dying.

VIII

Love me in thy gorgeous airs,
When the world has crowned thee;
Love me, kneeling at thy prayers,
With the angels round thee.

IX

Love me pure, as muses do,
Up the woodlands shady:
Love me gaily, fast and true,
As a winsome lady.

X

Through all hopes that keep us brave,
Farther off or nigher,
Love me for the house and grave,
And for something higher.

XI

Thus, if thou wilt prove me, Dear,
Woman’s love no fable,
I will love thee — half a year —
As a man is able.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
6 Mar 1806 - 29 Jun 1861
Region: British, Northern Europe
Period: Victorian

more poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Poem NameTopic
Sonnet XLIII: How Do I Love Thee?Classic, Emotional, Eternal
Sonnet XXII: When Our Two Souls Stand UpAspiration, Contentment, Love
The House Of CloudsArchitecture, Dreams, Imagination
SubstitutionFaith, Grief, Silence
The Sweetness Of EnglandLandscape, Pastoral, Reflective
The AutumnAutumn, Nostalgic, Reflective
Sonnet XIV: If Thou Must Love MeEternal, Genuine, Pure
Sonnet XIII: And Wilt Thou Have MeExpression, Love, Silence
Sonnet X: Yet Love, Mere LoveDivine, Fire, Love
Cheerfulness Taught By ReasonGratitude, Hopeful, Perspective

all poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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