quote · Legacy record
I loved him, but my reason bade prefer Duty to love, reject the tempter’s bribe Of rose and lily when each path diverged, And either I must pace to life’s far end As love should lead me, or, as duty urged, Plod the worn causeway arm-in-arm with friend.... But deep within my heart of hearts there hid Ever the confidence, amends for all, That heaven repairs what wrong earth’s journey did, When love from life-long exile comes at call.
I loved him, but my reason bade prefer Duty to love, reject the tempter’s bribe Of rose and lily when each path diverged, And either I must pace to life’s far end As love should lead me, or, as duty urged, Plod the worn causeway arm-in-arm with friend.... But deep within my heart of hearts there hid Ever the confidence, amends for all, That heaven repairs what wrong earth’s journey did, When love from life-long exile comes at call.
Approximate author period: c. 1850 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Robert Browning
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1850 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1812–1889)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921) (1921 AD)
Page 224 · printed citation: R. Browning (Bifurcation, 1876) · compiler notes excluded
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.