Earth's Immortalities by Robert Browning
A poet's grave deteriorates, and lichens soften its carved name and date. A speaker traces the year's passage from spring through June to snow, repeating a plea to be loved forever.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 187 words
First lines
Fame
See, as the prettiest graves will do in time, / Our poet's wants the freshness of its prime; / Spite of the sexton's browsing horse, the sods / Have struggled through its binding osier rods; / Headstone and half-sunk footstone lean awry, / Wanting the brick-work promised by-and-by; / How the minute gray lichens, plate o'er plate, / Have softened down the crisp-cut name and date!
Love
So, the year's done with! / (_Love me forever! _) / All March begun with, / April's endeavor; / May-wreaths that bound me / June needs must sever; / Now snows fall round me, / Quenching June's fever -- / (_Love me forever! _)
What this Textopian page supports
Earth's Immortalities is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Browning, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Browning
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 187 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Earth's Immortalities by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Poetry — Two titled sections present rhymed verse about a deteriorating grave and the passing seasons.
- Lyric Poetry — The love section combines a first-person account of seasonal change with a repeated plea to be loved forever.
Tags
fame · love · graves · seasonal change · impermanence