Grief by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 14, 2016   Grief   Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I tell you, hopeless grief is passionless— That only men incredulous of despair, Half-taught in anguish, through the midnight air, Beat upward to God’s throne in loud access Of shrieking and reproach. Full desertness In souls, as countries, lieth silent-bare Under the blenching, vertical eye-glare Of the absolute Heavens. Deep-hearted man, express Grief for thy Dead in silence like to death; Most like a monumental statue set In everlasting watch and moveless woe, Till itself crumble to the dust beneath! Touch it! the marble eyelids are not wet— If it could weep, it could arise and go.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Grief” was published in the collection Poems (Edward Moxon, 1844).   Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806, at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England. She published numerous collections of poetry, including Poems (Edward Moxon, 1844), Casa Guidi Windows: A Poem (Chapman & Hall, 1851), and Poems before Congress (Chapman & Hall, 1860). She died in Florence on June 29, 1861. Poetry by Barrett Browning   The Collected Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Wordsworth Editions, 2015) "The Celestial Surgeon" by Robert Louis Stevenson "The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone" by John Keats "The Soul selects her own Society (303)" by Emily Dickinson Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038