Sonnet XIII: And Wilt Thou Have Me

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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 upon 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.