by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
What can I give thee back, O liberal
Language: English
What can I give thee back, O liberal And princely giver, who hast brought the gold And purple of thine heart, unstained, untold, And laid them on the outside of the wall For such as I to take or leave withal, In unexpected largesse? am I cold, Ungrateful, that for these most manifold High gifts, I render nothing back at all? Not so; not cold, -- but very poor instead. Ask God who knows. For frequent tears have run The colours from my life, and left so dead And pale a stuff, it were not fitly done To give the same as pillow to thy head. Go farther! let it serve to trample on.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 8, first published 1847 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "What can I give thee back, O liberal", published 1907 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 8. [text not verified]
- by Bernard James Naylor (1907 - 1986), "What can I give thee back, O liberal", 1948, first performed 1955 [mezzo-soprano and string quartet], from Sonnets from the Portuguese [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , title unknown, from Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 8, published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 113