Image: Ron & Linda – SRF World Convocation – Lake Shrine – Los Angeles, CA
In Our Own Paradise
for my belovèd husband, my sweet Ron
So, what if the sidewalks were painted yellow? Something horribly bright might happen: A ball of brine might replace the moon— Yet we would still find our favorite table At any café in any town we choose to visit.
You would still smile every time You remember where we have been Each year as we have followed the map— Unfettered, unafraid, roving in Joy. Shining mugs clinging to our Solace.
Scoffers have long been repudiated. We have snuffed all their guesses That we would part bitter and repentant. You have remained my better hero, And I have become your solid half.
Image: Ron & Linda – SRF World Convocation – Meditation Gardens – Encinitas, CA by the Pacific
I take flight in words to remind you Of your quiet beauty, and the stars remind us That we were long aligned to follow a shared destiny. We have crafted on earth as near a heaven As is allowed by this dual-powered Maya delusion.
Our home allows us to breathe, stretch, and be still, Embracing the boundary that holds us In the evanescent glory that the larger world tries So hard to conceal in pettiness and selfish riots, That work so hard at tarnishing with its lies.
Image: Our Backyard Sanctuary – The Cosmos in Bloom
From the pocked past, we have grown smooth edges. Each a different spiritual identity, united yet unique, We go about our days in harmony and balance, Practicing spirit as the world traffics in mud-clod ways, Stewing in caves of ignorance and deceit.
Forsaking the past has become a blessing And even if we must recall certain evil acts Practiced against us, our ark points toward Eternity, Where we will abide in the land beyond dreams— Yet, for now, in-but-not-of this valley of sorrows.
We are perfecting skills, leaving this Maya dream behind us; Thus, we have learned to breathe in our own paradise.
Reading
Image: Our Backyard Sanctuary – Governed by St. Francis, Birds, and Flowers
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 16 “And yet, because thou overcomest so”
The speaker in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 16 “And yet, because thou overcomest so”finally capitulates to the all consuming love that she has tried to deny herself, allowing herself only a speck of doubt.
Introduction with Text of Sonnet 16 “And yet, because thou overcomest so”
The speaker in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 16 from Sonnets from the Portuguese is dramatizing her nearly concluded acceptance of the love from her “noble” king-like suitor. She establishes a colorful metaphor of royalty to express her new-found emotions.
Sonnet 16 “And yet, because thou overcomest so”
And yet, because thou overcomest so, Because thou art more noble and like a king, Thou canst prevail against my fears and fling Thy purple round me, till my heart shall grow Too close against thine heart henceforth to know How it shook when alone. Why, conquering May prove as lordly and complete a thing In lifting upward, as in crushing low! And as a vanquished soldier yields his sword To one who lifts him from the bloody earth, Even so, Belovèd, I at last record, Here ends my strife. If thou invite me forth, I rise above abasement at the word. Make thy love larger to enlarge my worth.
Commentary on Sonnet 16 “And yet, because thou overcomest so”
The speaker can finally be seen as capitulating to the all consuming love that she has tried to deny herself, allowing herself only a speck of doubt.
First Quatrain: Overcoming Fears and Doubts
And yet, because thou overcomest so, Because thou art more noble and like a king, Thou canst prevail against my fears and fling Thy purple round me, till my heart shall grow
The speaker, picking up from prior adversity, can now give in to her belovèd’s advances because he has, at last, been able to overcome her fears and doubts. She again likens him to royalty. She labels him “noble” and he is able to rule her heart as king would rule his subjects.
Her royal suitor is banishing her fears as he places his protective shield “purple” around her life. All of his noble, royalty-like actions and behaviors all her heart to grow fond of him and life that he has is now so gently guiding.
Her lover has the kingly powers of protecting even a doubtful heart such as her own. He can place his royal purple cape around her shoulders and affect the very beating of her heart.
Second Quatrain: A Fearful Heart
Too close against thine heart henceforth to know How it shook when alone. Why, conquering May prove as lordly and complete a thing In lifting upward, as in crushing low!
As her heart beats close to his, the speaker finds it difficult to grasp that it once felt so afraid of life and living when it found itself solitary and isolated. She has discovered that she can, in fact, imagine herself lifted from her self-imposed prison of melancholy. The speaker can succumb to upward mobility as readily as she did to the downward spiral, “as in crushing low!”
First Tercet: A Bizarre Comparison
And as a vanquished soldier yields his sword To one who lifts him from the bloody earth, Even so, Belovèd, I at last record,
The speaker then dramatically and bizarrely compares her situation metaphorically to a “soldier” who surrenders in battle to “one who lifts him from the bloody earth.” The enemy becomes nurturing once his foe has been vanquished. But for her, the battle was very real, and thus the metaphor remains quite apt. Thus she can finally and completely surrender.
Second Tercet: Reserving a Space to Doubt
Here ends my strife. If thou invite me forth, I rise above abasement at the word. Make thy love larger to enlarge my worth.
The speaker’s handing over of weapons and defensive mechanisms is accompanied by her revelation that her sorrowful struggles are ending. She is on the verge of a major change of attitude from sadness to happiness, if she has the courage of accept that transformation.
True to character, however, she must at least reserve some bit of possible future failure by stating her declaration in a conditional clause, “if thou invite me forth.” She emphasizes “thou,” to make it clear that her belovèd is the only one to whom she could ever say these things.
The speaker has quite likely almost one hundred per cent become convinced that he has invited her, but she still feels that she has to keep any downturn in her sights. But if he does, in fact, keep that invitation open for her, she will be able to transcend her pain and rise above all the sorrow that has kept her abased for so many years.
Once again, the speaker is giving him a great deal of power as she suggests that as her new attitude will “make thy love larger,” it will also “enlarge my worth.” Thus loving him will increase her own value, not in large part because, in her eyes, his value is as large as a king’s worth. His royalty will become hers.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 15 “Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear”
The speaker in sonnet 15 concentrates on her ambiguous facial expressions that have yet to catch up with her overflowing heart. She finds it difficult to be happy after being sad for most of her life.
Introduction with Text of Sonnet 15 “Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 15 from Sonnets from the Portuguese finds the speaker again on the edge of doubt. She has lived with a gloomy countenance for so long that she is reluctant to change it to one of sunshine and gaiety, even as her belovèd apparently chides her for the melancholy.
Sonnet 15 “Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear”
Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear Too calm and sad a face in front of thine; For we two look two ways, and cannot shine With the same sunlight on our brow and hair. On me thou lookest with no doubting care, As on a bee shut in a crystalline; Since sorrow hath shut me safe in love’s divine, And to spread wing and fly in the outer air Were most impossible failure, if I strove To fail so. But I look on thee—on thee— Beholding, besides love, the end of love, Hearing oblivion beyond memory; As one who sits and gazes from above, Over the rivers to the bitter sea.
Commentary on Sonnet 15 “Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear”
The speaker has remained in a sad state for so many years that she is now finding it difficult to be happy even as she has so much for which to be happy. She knows she should be smiling but she is more accustomed to frowning.
First Quatrain: A Solemn Expression
Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear Too calm and sad a face in front of thine; For we two look two ways, and cannot shine With the same sunlight on our brow and hair.
Addressing her belovèd, the speaker begs him not to worry over her solemn expression. She has experienced great difficulty accepting this love relationship, in part because of her penchant for melancholy.
She has suffered physically and mentally for so long that it has become a part of her character and continues to disfigure her face. She laments that she cannot change her facial expression so quickly, even with the shining example of her brilliant lover before her.
She dramatically asserts that because the two of them each “look two ways,” they cannot reflect the same kind of sunny disposition. Their faces will remain according to their earlier penchant for each relevant emotion.
Second Quatrain: A Transformative State
On me thou lookest with no doubting care, As on a bee shut in a crystalline; Since sorrow hath shut me safe in love’s divine, And to spread wing and fly in the outer air
The speaker avers that her belovèd is able to look at her with great excitement and fervor without doubt or perturbation because he is as content as if he were observing “a bee in a crystalline.” But for her, the experience is still in a transformative state.
She has been engulfed in “sorrow” for such an extended period of time that she feels she is still “shut [ ] safe in love’s divine.” Thus, still somewhat paralyzed by the full prospect of love, her unexercised limbs are still incapable of functioning well.
First Tercet: A Metaphorical Bird
Were most impossible failure, if I strove To fail so. But I look on thee—on thee— Beholding, besides love, the end of love,
The speaker invokes the metaphor of a bird flying or perhaps a bee that would “spread wing and fly,” but she claims that if she tried to “fly,” she would crash in failure. Such a failure would be so odious that she calls it a “most impossible failure.” And she insists that she does not dare “fail so.”
When she looks at her belovèd, she sees such pure love that she thinks she sees through eternity to the “end of love”—not the stoppage of love but the goal of love, or the result that keeps her somewhat cautious.
Second Tercet: Transported by Love
Hearing oblivion beyond memory; As one who sits and gazes from above, Over the rivers to the bitter sea.
The speaker senses in her lover’s look a perfection of love that allows her not only to see but to hear “oblivion beyond memory.” She seems to be transported to a height from which she can observe the phenomena below.
She can see “the rivers [flowing] to the bitter sea.” The sea remains “bitter” for now, but with all those rivers feeding it, she senses that one day she will look on it with kinder, more confident eyes.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Come Not, When I Am Dead” features qualities of the versanelle form, using stark images as it concludes its message in just twelve short lines.
Introduction and Text of “Come Not, When I Am Dead”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s versanelle, “Come Not,When I am Dead,” features two rimed sestets each with the rime scheme, ABABCC. Each sestet features a concluding couplet with the same rime. The poem dramatizes the theme of a spurned lover who speaks harsh words to the one who has jilted him.
Come not, When I am Dead
Come not, when I am dead, To drop thy foolish tears upon my grave, To trample round my fallen head, And vex the unhappy dust thou wouldst not save. There let the wind sweep and the plover cry; But thou, go by.
Child, if it were thine error or thy crime I care no longer, being all unblest: Wed whom thou wilt, but I am sick of Time, And I desire to rest. Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie: Go by, go by.
Commentary on “Come Not, When I Am Dead”
The speaker is dramatizing an unusual, acerbic message for a former lover.
First Sestet: No Visiting
Come not, when I am dead, To drop thy foolish tears upon my grave, To trample round my fallen head, And vex the unhappy dust thou wouldst not save. There let the wind sweep and the plover cry; But thou, go by.
The speaker addresses his former lover with the intention of showing her that she is silly, so silly that after his death, the speaker does not welcome her to come to his grave and mourn his passing. He does not want her to “drop [her] foolish tears upon [his grave].”
Furthermore, the speaker does not want her “to trample round [his] fallen head.” He paints her as a graceless person grinding the dirt around his grave into “unhappy dust.” True lovers who truly mourn the loss of a lover would want to scoop up some of that dirt and save it, but not his lover; she would merely cause his grave to look untidy.
The speaker demands that she not visit his resting place but instead merely “let the wind sweep” in place of her skirts swishing around his grave. He welcomes a crying bird and imagines its plaint more appropriate than the “foolish tears” of his faithless former love. Thus, the speaker demands that she “go by.” She should just keep walking past his grave and not stop and pretend to care.
Second Sestet: Keep Walking
Child, if it were thine error or thy crime I care no longer, being all unblest: Wed whom thou wilt, but I am sick of Time, And I desire to rest. Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie: Go by, go by.
Continuing his disdain for his fickle lover, the speaker addresses her by calling her “Child.” He speculates that if she was, in fact, the cause of his death, he “care[s] no longer.” Indicating that at one time he cared very much, he makes it clear that now he does not.
She abandoned him and caused him to be “unblest” by her love, and even if her departure has killed him, he does not welcome her pretense or acknowledgment that she once cared for him.
The speaker tells her to “[w]ed whom thou wilt.” By this remark, he is, again, trying to demonstrate his current apathy. But he adds that he is “sick of Time, / And [he] desire[s] to rest.” His protest reveals that the love he lost has taken a mighty toll on him; it has made him not care for anything in life any longer.
The speaker then commands her once again to keep away, to keep walking, not to stop at his grave, but simply “Go by, go by.” He repeats for a third time that he wants her pass by his grave and not stop to mourn him.
A Common Theme
The speaker, of course, has not died but uses the imagined occasion of his death to emphasize how destructive to his heart has been the break with the lover addressed in the poem. This ploy remains a common theme for many lost love poems, but an unusual choice for Tennyson, who is famous for his profundity.
Image: Created by ChatGPT inspired by “A Soul Escaping the Soil”
A Soul Escaping the Soil
I’m not the little girl I once knew. My womanhood blooming like compost: Roses growing from my cheeks. My hands pushing up daisies.
I was always a quiet woman. That stone speaks louder than I ever did, Announcing my name and age To every eye that passes by.
I’m not the same woman anymore. My neighborhood hovering over hers. She pulls at me, though, as if I still had heartstrings. I left her slowly, the bird accustomed to its cage.
My skin of light is not hers now. She lies stone still in her motion of decomposing.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 14 “If thou must love me, let it be for nought”
In sonnet 14, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s speaker is insisting that her suitor love her only for the sake of love, not for her physical qualities such as her smiling lips or the soft manner in which she speaks.
Introduction with Text of Sonnet 14 “If thou must love me, let it be for nought”
The speaker in this sonnet from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s classic Sonnets from the Portuguese is now graciously receiving her suitor’s affection. Nevertheless, she also feels it necessary to make him aware that she expects that their budding relationship should not only continue to grow but should become permanent. She therefore delineates the nature of the love she anticipates that the two will share.
Sonnet 14 “If thou must love me, let it be for nought”
If thou must love me, let it be for nought Except for love’s sake only. Do not say “I love her for her smile—her look—her way Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought That falls in well with mine, and certes brought A sense of pleasant ease on such a day”— For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought, May be unwrought so. Neither love me for Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,— A creature might forget to weep, who bore Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! But love me for love’s sake, that evermore Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.
Commentary on Sonnet 14 “If thou must love me, let it be for nought”
The speaker insists that her beloved offer her affection only based on love and not for any physical qualities that she demonstrates, including the way she smiles or the manner in which she speaks.
First Quatrain: Continuing to Remain Somewhat Tentative
If thou must love me, let it be for nought Except for love’s sake only. Do not say “I love her for her smile—her look—her way Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
The speaker’s tentativeness continues, even though she seems to be contemplating the much desired joy of such a love relationship. Her continued procrastination remains as a shield for her heart, in case the relationship ends. She is signaling the likelihood of her acceptance by affirming, “If thou must love me,” but not with the oft-touted insulting phrase, if-you-really-love-me.
The uncomplicated, single term “must” declares that a change is in the offing. It demonstrates that she now realizes the true nature of this man’s love, although she cannot bring herself to have total faith that some feature in her nature could never assert itself and thus spoil such a love that seems to be so true.
The speaker is requesting pragmatically that he love her for love alone, and not because of the physical, therefore superficial, qualities that too often attract lovers. She does not desire that her lover to be in love merely with the physical qualities she possesses such as her smile and speaking manner.
Second Quatrain: Contempt for the Superficial
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought A sense of pleasant ease on such a day”— For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,
The speaker then is unveiling her reason for being dismayed by superficial kinds of attention that often engages lovers. Those qualities too often prove to be “a trick of thought.” Suppose that her smile be pleasant to him one day but not so much the next day. If he were fixed upon such a smile, she fears his feeling for her would diminish.
The speaker does not wish that her partner’s love to be guided only by mood. She suspects that if she offers him a pleasant glance but later offers a melancholy sorrow his love for her may become negatively affected.
Also, her speech to him may from time to time vary and not always offer him the same level of delight. She knows she will not always be able to engage in conversation that is brimming only with joyful pleasantries.
The speaker comprehends well that love based on change cannot maintain a lasting, steadfast love relationship. Thus she is letting him know that she is aware that the physical is very likely to change, but true love should not change; love should remain constant. She wants to let him know that she can only engage in an unconditional love that is founded on unchanging affection.
First Tercet: Accepting No Pity
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,— A creature might forget to weep, who bore
The speaker is offering an additional demand that he not love her with pity in his heart. She has often explored the reaches of the melancholy that has caused her to shed tears often and for long periods of time. And if his love were tainted with pity and sympathy for her sorrowful lot, what would occur with that pity, were she to “forget to weep”?
She reasons that if or when she likely becomes a happily, contented woman, her beloved would then have one less reason to continue to love her, if he had allowed his love for her to include the negativity of pity and sympathy.
Second Tercet: Love for Love’s Sake Alone
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! But love me for love’s sake, that evermore Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.
The speaker deems it very important to make her paramour aware that she wants to be loved for no reason other than that she exists. If she is loved because of physical features, or because of the fact that she has deeply suffered and somehow now deserves to be content, true, lasting love could never continue to remain.
Therefore, if her beloved will love her as she requests and just love her for “love’s sake,” she is convinced that their love will exist “through love’s eternity.” She has weighed the calamity of false starts, and she makes it clear that she wishes to avoid the pain of a failed relationship.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 13 “And wilt thou have me fashion into speech“
The speaker in sonnet 13 muses on the idea of composing a verse about her newly found emotion but hesitates for fear of touching the grief she suffers.
Introduction with Text of Sonnet 13 “And wilt thou have me fashion into speech”
In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 13 from Sonnets from the Portuguese, the speaker attempts to respond to her suitor’s encouragement to transcribe her feelings for him in a poem, but she does not yet believe she is ready to plumb the depths of her feelings.
Sonnet 13 “And wilt thou have me fashion into speech”
And wilt thou have me fashion into speech The love I bear thee, finding words enough, And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, Between our faces, to cast light on each? I drop it at thy feet. I cannot teach My hand to hold my spirit so far off From myself—me—that I should bring thee proof In words, of love hid in me out of reach. Nay, let the silence of my womanhood Commend my woman-love to thy belief,— Seeing that I stand unwon, however wooed, And rend the garment of my life, in brief, By a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude, Lest one touch of this heart convey its grief.
Commentary on Sonnet 13 “And wilt thou have me fashion into speech”
The speaker in sonnet 13 muses on the idea of composing a verse about her newly found emotion of love, but she hesitates for she fears touching the grief that still confronts her.
First Quatrain: Should She Express Her Love?
And wilt thou have me fashion into speech The love I bear thee, finding words enough, And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, Between our faces, to cast light on each?
The speaker beseeches her beloved wondering if she should “fashion into speech” how she feels about him. She feels that she may not yet be ready to express verbally the feelings that are beginning to move her. Undoubtedly, she believes that outward verbal expression may hamper her unique emotions.
If she translated her feelings into words, she fears they would behave as a “torch” and would “cast light on each” of their faces. However, that would happen only if the wind did not blow out their fire.
She believes she must protect her increasing emotion from all outside forces; therefore, she opens with a question. She cannot be certain that remaining silent is any longer the proper way to behave.
Second Quatrain: Unsteadied by Emotion
I drop it at thy feet. I cannot teach My hand to hold my spirit so far off From myself—me—that I should bring thee proof In words, of love hid in me out of reach.
The speaker then dramatically asserts that she, “drop[s] at [his] feet”; she does this because she cannot remain steady in his presence, as she is overcome with emotion. She becomes so agitated with the notion of love, and she cannot calm down in order to write what might be coherent about her intense feelings.
The sonnet suggests that her beloved has asked the poet/speaker for a poem about her feelings for him; however, she believes that her love is so profoundly heartfelt that she may not be able to shapes its significance in words.
The speaker feels that she cannot perceive the appropriate images for they are, “hid in me out of reach.” She feels that she must wait for a time when she has found enough tranquility to be able to “fashion into speech” the complex, deep feelings she is experiencing because of her love for this man.
First Tercet: Remaining Self-Aware
Nay, let the silence of my womanhood Commend my woman-love to thy belief,— Seeing that I stand unwon, however wooed,
The speaker concludes therefore that “the silence of [her] womanhood” will have to function to persuade him that she does possess those deep feeling of love for him. She confesses that she has remained a bit distant from her beloved, when she says she is “unwon.”
Although he has “wooed” her, she feels that she must keep a portion of her self out of sight for very deeply personal reasons. She must make sure she stays present and connected in her own self.
Second Tercet: Dramatizing the Depth of Pain
And rend the garment of my life, in brief, By a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude, Lest one touch of this heart convey its grief.
The sonnet sequence has dramatized the depth of the pain and melancholy the speaker has endured her entire life-long. She is still suffering that same pain and sadness. She thus again reveals that if she too soon tries to place her feeling into a poem, she would perhaps only “convey [her heart’s] grief.”
The speaker remains fearful of the notion that “a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude” could impede the power with which she is being propelled toward completely accepting the current relationship with her new-found belovèd.
Image: Create by Grok inspired by “Serendipity on a Gentle Breeze”
Serendipity on a Gentle Breeze
Summer wears a smile all winter long Waiting in the wings for wings and things.
Spring poems fill their pockets with sharp Little stones, musical shells, and wispy feathers Of the tall grasses at the edge of the yard.
She will not go outside unless A cerulean garden calls her name & offers her hot peppers, Tomatoes, and squash.
Then she will fly the cloud flag of heaven As the blanching light of the sun Crosses the path around the rim Of the house where she resides Full of moonbeams Praying for constant brightness Less severity from her fellows & an autumn decked out in a riot Of rustic hues that flame to the touch Of the eye and rustle in the ear.
Now when winter burns, she will scorch Each word and torch her soul Back into the arms of paradise Waning in the world but waxing in her heart As a warm memory flows along the mind Like a balloon carried on a gentle breeze.
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