Ode To Elizabeth Barrett Browning Poem by John Lars Zwerenz

ODE TO ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

In my wanderings to the south of Spain,
In sallow dales, in the Portuguese sun,
I picked each hyacinth, one by one,
To bequeath to a girl with a long, black mane.
We walked hand in hand as a storm arose
In the dew clad valley where rainbows did grace
The astonishing light of her beauteous face,
In a garden where the vines are married to the rose.
And when comes our next existence
Who can say,
When we go at the end of our stubborn insistence
That we live not in vain, neglecting to pray?
So let us walk in peace, in splendid, gilded days,
Unafraid to earn heaven, in wondrous ways.

JOHN LARS ZWERENZ