Hvis du må elske meg, så la det uten unntak være for kjærlighetens skyld.
Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), nr. 14.
If thou must love me, let it be for nought except for love’s sake only.
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, Beloved, 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 may’st love on, through love’s eternity.
Nasjonalitet: britisk
Tittel: dikter
Levde: 1806 - 1861
Noen av hennes mest kjente kjærlighetsdikt er fra Sonnets from the Portuguese. Disse diktene skrev hun mens hun ble oppvartet av dikteren Robert Browning. Av frykt for Elizabeths tyranniske far giftet de seg i hemmelighet i 1846 og rømte siden til Italia. Elizabeth Barrett Browning døde 1861, i sin ektemanns armer.