Sonnet · Love
Sonnet 22: When our two souls stand up erect and strong
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning · 1850
When our two souls stand up erect and strong,
Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher,
Until the lengthening wings break into fire
At either curved point,—what bitter wrong
Can the earth do to us, that we should not long
Be here contented? Think. In mounting higher,
The angels would press on us and aspire
To drop some golden orb of perfect song
Into our deep, dear silence. Let us stay
Rather on earth, Beloved,—where the unfit
Contrarious moods of men recoil away
And isolate pure spirits, and permit
A place to stand and love in for a day,
With darkness and the death-hour rounding it.
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“Sonnet 22: When our two souls stand up erect and strong” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning — quilloak.com/poems/when-our-two-souls-stand-up
Quick facts
- Poem
- Sonnet 22: When our two souls stand up erect and strong
- Poet
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- Published
- 1850
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Love
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 14 lines · one 14-line stanza
- End rhyme
- ABCAACDAEFEGEG.
- Line length
- Lines run 10-11 syllables (median 11). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a sonnet, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning1806–1861
- Source record
- PoetryDBSonnet 22: When our two souls stand up erect and strong by elizabeth-barrett-browning, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1850
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 1d22a9edea90010e…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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