Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Life and Love
I.
Fast this Life of mine was dying,
       &nbspBlind already and calm as death,
Snowflakes on her bosom lying
       &nbspScarcely heaving with her breath.

II.
Love came by, and having known her
       &nbspIn a dream of fabled lands,
Gently stooped, and laid upon her
       &nbspMystic chrism of holy hands;

III.
Drew his smile across her folded
       &nbspEyelids, as the swallow dips;
Breathed as finely as the cold did
       &nbspThrough the locking of her lips.

IV.
So, when Life looked upward, being
       &nbspWarmed and breathed on from above,
What sight could she have for seeing,
       &nbspEvermore ... but only Love?