#MIDDLEBURY
Grief
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I tell you, hopeless grief is passionless –
That only men incredulous of despair,
Half-taught in anguish, through the midnight air,
Beat upward to God’s throne in loud access
Of shrieking and reproach. Full desertness
In souls, as countries, lieth silent – bare
Under the blenching, vertical eye-glare
Of the absolute Heavens. Deep-hearted man, express
Grief for thy Dead in silence like to death;
Most like a monumental statue set
In everlasting watch and moveless woe,
Till itself crumble to the dust beneath!
Touch it! the marble eyelids are not wet –
If it could weep, it could arise and go.
About this poem
“Grief” was published in the collection “Poems” (Edward Moxon, 1844).
About Margaret Ross
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806, at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England. She published numerous collections of poetry, including “Poems” (Edward Moxon, 1844), “Casa Guidi Windows: A Poem” (Chapman & Hall, 1851) and “Poems Before Congress” (Chapman & Hall, 1860). She died in Florence, Italy, on June 29, 1861.
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. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
