Setiap orang pasti memiliki kisahnya masing-masing. Dan entah berapa banyak pujangga terinspirasi olehnya. Anggap saja aku mengutip puisi cinta ini dalam suasana Valentine.
How Do I Love Thee?
Sonnet from the Portuguese XLIII - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sonnet from the Portuguese XLIII - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), seorang wanita bangsawan dan seorang pujangga yang telah menulis puisi bahkan sejak ia masih berumur 6 tahun. Ia menikah dengan Robert Browning, dan cinta memberinya inspirasi untuk menulis Sonnet from the Portuguese, kumpulan 44 soneta yang ditulis sekitar tahun 1845-1846, sebelum pernikahan mereka. Kutipan di atas adalah soneta nomor 43 tersebut, pernyataan cinta yang mengakhiri sejumlah keraguan dan tanda tanya yang muncul dalam soneta-soneta sebelumnya.
Beloved, Thou Hast Brought Me Many Flowers
Sonnet from the Portuguese XLIV - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers
Plucked in the garden, all the summer through,
And winter, and it seemed as if they grew
In this close room, nor missed the sun and showers.
So, in the like name of that love of ours,
Take back these thoughts which here unfolded too,
And which on warm and cold days I withdrew
From my heart's ground. Indeed, those beds and bowers
Be overgrown with bitter weeds and rue,
And wait thy weeding; yet here's eglantine,
Here's ivy!--take them, as I used to do
Thy flowers, and keep them where they shall not pine.
Instruct thine eyes to keep their colours true,
And tell thy soul, their roots are left in mine.
Plucked in the garden, all the summer through,
And winter, and it seemed as if they grew
In this close room, nor missed the sun and showers.
So, in the like name of that love of ours,
Take back these thoughts which here unfolded too,
And which on warm and cold days I withdrew
From my heart's ground. Indeed, those beds and bowers
Be overgrown with bitter weeds and rue,
And wait thy weeding; yet here's eglantine,
Here's ivy!--take them, as I used to do
Thy flowers, and keep them where they shall not pine.
Instruct thine eyes to keep their colours true,
And tell thy soul, their roots are left in mine.
Sumber:
1. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=81294
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning
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