My Own Beloved Who Hast Lifted Me

My own Beloved, who hast lifted me

From this drear flat of earth where I was thrown,

And, in betwixt the languid ringlets blown

A life-breath, till the forehead hopefully

Shines out again, as all the angels see,

A member of the Lily family,  white Asphodel are

popular garden and landscaping plants.

Before thy saving kiss! My own, my own,

Who camest to me when the world was gone,

And I who looked for only God, found thee!

I find thee; I am safe, and strong, and glad.

As one who stands in dewless asphodel

Yellow Asphodel is a wild perennial plant native to southeastern Europe,

northern Africa, the Caucasus, and the Levant.

Looks backward on the tedious time he had

In the upper life,-so I, with bosom-swell,

Make witness, here, between the good and bad,

That Love, as strong as Death, retrieves as well.

"My Own Beloved Who Hast Lifted Me"

XXVII

"Sonnets From The Portuguese"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

(1806-1861)

English poetess