Love in a Life
Robert Browning
Room after room,
I hunt the house through
We inhabit together.
Heart, fear nothing, for, heart, thou shalt find her,
Next time, herself! – not the trouble behind her
Left in the curtain, the couch’s perfume!
As she brushed it, the cornice-wreath blossomed anew, –
Yon looking-glass gleamed at the wave of her feather.
Yet the day wears,
And door succeeds door;
I try the fresh fortune –
Range the wide house from the wing to the centre.
Still the same chance! she goes out as I enter.
Spend my whole day in the quest, – who cares?
But ’tis twilight, you see, – with such suits to explore,
Such closets to search, such alcoves to importune!
About this poem
“Love in a Life ” was published in Browning’s book “Men and Women” (Chapman & Hall, 1855).
About Robert Browning
Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812, in Camberwell, England. Browning married the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning and lived with her in Florence, Italy. After her death in 1861, he moved to London and published “Dramatis Personae” (Chapman and Hall, 1863) and the critically acclaimed “The Ring and the Book” (Smith, Elder & Co., 1868). Browning died in 1889.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
