CONCURSOS:

Edite o seu Livro! A corpos editora edita todos os géneros literários. Clique aqui.
Quer editar o seu livro de Poesia?  Clique aqui.
Procuram-se modelos para as nossas capas! Clique aqui.
Procuram-se atores e atrizes! Clique aqui.

 

Robert Browning Poems : The Laboratory

ANCIEN RÉGIME

Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,
May gaze through these faint smokes curling whitely,
As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy—
Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?

He is with her, and they know that I know
Where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow
While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear
Empty church, to pray God in, for them!—I am here!

Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,
Pound at thy powder, I am not in haste!
Better sit thus and observe thy strange things,
Than go where men wait me, and dance at the King's.

That in the mortar—you call it a gum?
Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!
And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
Sure to taste sweetly,—is that poison, too?

Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,
What a wild crowd of Invisible pleasures!
To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,
A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!

Soon, at the King's, a mere lozenge to give
And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!
But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her head
And her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!

Quick—is it finished? The colour's too grim!
Why not soft like the phial's, enticing and dim?
Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it and stir,
And try it and taste, ere she fix and prefer!

What a drop! She's not little, no minion like me!
That's why she ensnared him: this never will free
The soul from those masculine eyes,—say "No!"
To that pulse's magnificent come-and-go.

For only last night, as they whispered, I brought
My own eyes to bear on her so that I thought
Could I keep them one half-minute fixed, she would fall
Shrivelled; she fell not: yet this does it all!

Not that I bid you spare her the pain;
Let death be felt and the proof remain:
Brand, burn up, bite into its grace—
He is sure to remember her dying face!

Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay, be not morose;
It kills her, and this prevents seeing it close:
The delicate droplet, my whole fortune's fee!
If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?

Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your fill,
You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will!
But brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings
Ere I know it—next moment I dance at the King's! 

Submited by

quarta-feira, maio 4, 2011 - 02:09

Poesia Consagrada :

No votes yet

Robert Browning

imagem de Robert Browning
Offline
Título: Membro
Última vez online: há 13 anos 49 semanas
Membro desde: 04/27/2011
Conteúdos:
Pontos: 192

Add comment

Se logue para poder enviar comentários

other contents of Robert Browning

Tópico Título Respostas Views Last Postícone de ordenação Língua
Poesia Consagrada/Biografia Robert Browning Biography 0 1.840 05/04/2011 - 02:59 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Youth and Art 0 1.594 05/04/2011 - 02:52 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : A Woman's Last Word 0 1.725 05/04/2011 - 02:51 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Why I Am a Liberal 0 1.827 05/04/2011 - 02:50 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : White Witchcraft 0 1.719 05/04/2011 - 02:49 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Which? 0 1.688 05/04/2011 - 02:48 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : A Wall 0 1.632 05/04/2011 - 02:47 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Up at a Villa—Down in the City 0 2.370 05/04/2011 - 02:46 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Tray 0 1.839 05/04/2011 - 02:45 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : A Toccata of Galuppi's 0 1.867 05/04/2011 - 02:44 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : A Tale 0 1.655 05/04/2011 - 02:44 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Summum Bonum 0 1.818 05/04/2011 - 02:43 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Speculative 0 1.855 05/04/2011 - 02:42 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Songs From Pippa Passes 0 2.063 05/04/2011 - 02:41 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Rosny 0 1.597 05/04/2011 - 02:40 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Rabbi Ben Ezra 0 1.905 05/04/2011 - 02:39 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Prospice 0 2.189 05/04/2011 - 02:36 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : A Pretty Woman 0 1.449 05/04/2011 - 02:35 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : The Pope and the Net 0 1.705 05/04/2011 - 02:30 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : The Pied Piper of Hamelin 0 2.091 05/04/2011 - 02:29 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Pheidippides 0 2.058 05/04/2011 - 02:27 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : A Pearl, a Girl 0 1.753 05/04/2011 - 02:25 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : The Patriot 0 1.793 05/04/2011 - 02:25 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Now 0 1.755 05/04/2011 - 02:24 inglês
Poesia Consagrada/Geral Robert Browning Poems : Natural Magic 0 1.660 05/04/2011 - 02:23 inglês