Lyric Poem · Peace

Why I am a Liberal

by Robert Browning

Reading room

1"Why?" Because all I haply can and do,

2 All that I am now, all I hope to be, —

3 Whence comes it save from fortune setting free

4Body and soul the purpose to pursue,

5God traced for both? If fetters, not a few,

6 Of prejudice, convention, fall from me,

7 These shall I bid men — each in his degree

8Also God-guided — bear, and gayly too?

9 But little do or can the best of us:

10That little is achieved thro' Liberty.

11 Who then dares hold, emancipated thus,

12His fellow shall continue bound? not I,

13 Who live, love, labour freely, nor discuss

14A brother's right to freedom. That is "Why."

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Tip: click any line number to copy a ready-made citation for that line.

“Why I am a Liberal” by Robert Browning — quilloak.com/poems/why-i-am-a-liberal

Quick facts

Poem: Why I am a Liberal
Poet: Robert Browning
Length: 14 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Peace, Love, Hope

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: ABBAABBACDCECE.
Line length: Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, 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: Robert Browning1812–1889
Source record: PoetryDBWhy I am a Liberal by robert-browning, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 5edb320efa8650dc…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policy Report a text or rights issue

Lyric Poem Peace Love Hope

Keep reading

She Walks in Beauty

Lord Byron · 1814

She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that's best of dark and bright

18 lines · lyric

Love's Philosophy

Percy Bysshe Shelley · 1819

The fountains mingle with the riverAnd the rivers with the ocean,The winds of heaven mix for ever

16 lines · lyric

When You Are Old

W. B. Yeats · 1893

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

12 lines · lyric

More poems about peace →