Page:The Hundred Best Poems (lyrical) in the English language - second series.djvu/49

ROBERT BROWNING.

"Clasp my heart on thine
"Now unblamed,
"Since upon thy soul as well
"Hangeth mine!"

VI.

Was it wrong to own,

Being truth?
Why should all the giving prove
His alone?
I had wealth and ease,
Beauty, youth:
Since my lover gave me love,
I gave these.

VII.

That was all I meant,

—To be just,
And the passion I had raised,
To content.
Since he chose to change
Gold for dust,
If I gave him what he praised
Was it strange?

VIII.

Would he loved me yet,

On and on,
While I found some way undreamed
—Paid my debt!
Gave more life and more,
Till, all gone,

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