Skip to content
Linespedia

Sonnets From The Portuguese XVIII

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Topics: classic

I never gave a lock of hair away     To a man, Dearest, except this to thee,     Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully     I ring out to the full brown length and say     Take it. My day of youth went yesterday;     My hair no longer bounds to my foots glee,     Nor plant I it from rose- or myrtle-tree,     As girls do, any more: it only may     Now shade on two pale cheeks the mark of tears,     Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside     Through sorrows trick. I thought the funeral-shears     Would take this first, but Love is justified,     Take it thou, finding pure, from all those years,     The kiss my mother left here when she died.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"I never gave a lock of hair away..."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Sonnets From The Portuguese XVIII"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"I never gave a lock of hair away..." by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"God, God!     With a childs voice I cry,     Weak, sad, confidingly,     God, God!     Thou knowest, eyelids, raised not always up     Unto"

"With stammering lips and insufficient sound     I strive and struggle to deliver right     That music of my nature, day and night     With drea"

""Theu theu, ti prosderkesthe m ommasin, tekna;"     [Alas, alas, why do you gaze at me with your eyes, my children.]     - Medea.     Do ye h"

"Belovd, thou hast brought me many flowers     Plucked in the garden, all the summer through,     And winter, and it seemed as if they grew"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

About Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. Her "Sonnets from the Portuguese" are among the most famous love poems in English, and her verse novel "Aurora Leigh" addressed women's roles in society and art.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"God, God!     With a childs voice I cry,     Weak,..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.