| Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | Miscellaneous Sonnets.
VI. Work | | By Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
| | | WHAT are we set on earth for? Say, to toil; | |
| Nor seek to leave thy tending of the vines | |
| For all the heat o’ the day, till it declines, | |
| And Death’s mild curfew shall from work assoil. | |
| God did anoint thee with His odorous oil, | 5 |
| To wrestle, not to reign; and He assigns | |
| All thy tears over, like pure crystallines, | |
| For younger fellow-workers of the soil | |
| To wear for amulets. So others shall | |
| Take patience, labour, to their heart and hand, | 10 |
| From thy hand and thy heart and thy brave cheer, | |
| And God’s grace fructify through thee to all. | |
| The least flower, with a brimming cup may stand, | |
| And share its dew-drop with another near. | | | | |
|
|
