by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful...
Language: English
Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed And worthy of acceptation. Fire is bright, Let temple burn, or flax; an equal light Leaps in the flame from cedar-plank or weed: And love is fire. And when I say at need I love thee . . . mark! . . . I love thee -- in thy sight I stand transfigured, glorified aright, With conscience of the new rays that proceed Out of my face toward thine. There's nothing low In love, when love the lowest: meanest creatures Who love God, God accepts while loving so. And what I feel, across the inferior features Of what I am, doth flash itself, and show How that great work of Love enhances Nature's.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 10, first published 1847 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed", published 1907 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Charles) Alfred de Kaiser (1872 - 1917), "A Paean Love", published 1912 [ duet for soprano and tenor with piano ], from Seven Sonnets from the Portuguese [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard James Naylor (1907 - 1986), "Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed", 1948, first performed 1955 [ mezzo-soprano and string quartet ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carlos Surinach (b. 1915), "Yet, love is beautiful indeed", published 1966 [ voice and piano ], from Flamenco Meditations [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 10, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 119