Mellifluous Mondays: In Word and Thought and Deed

Sonnet XXI, taken from "Sonnets From the Portuguese" by Elizabeth Barret Browning

Say over again, and yet once over again,
That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated
Should seem a “cuckoo-song,” as thou dost treat it.
Remember, never to the hill or plain,
Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain
Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.
Belovèd, I, amid the darkness greeted
By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt’s pain
Cry, “Speak once more—thou lovest!” Who can fear
Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,
Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year?
Say thou dost love me, love me, love me—toll
The silver iterance!—only minding, Dear,
To love me also in silence with thy soul.

I like this one. Browning asks for verbal confirmation, but also for sincerity of heart, and for deeds that prove the declaration. I suppose she's asking for the same breadth of love that we are commanded to give the Lord: heart, soul, mind, strength.

(I was at my cousin's wedding this past weekend. Hence the mushiness of this post. :) It was a lovely wedding, by the way, very joyful and God-centered.)