Sonnet XXVI
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I lived with visions for my company
Instead of men and women, years ago,
And found them gentle mates, nor thought to know
A sweeter music than they played to me.
But soon their trailing purple was not free
Of this world’s dust, their lutes did silent grow,
And I myself grew faint and blind below
Their vanishing eyes. Then thou didst come—to be,
Belovëd, what they seemed. Their shining fronts,
Their songs, their splendours, (better, yet the same,
As river-water hallowed into fonts)
Met in thee, and from out thee overcame
My soul with satisfaction of all wants:
Because God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.
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Sonnets from the Portuguese
EBB XXVI
by ChatGPT
I once lived with visions for my company,
In people of the past, gentle mates to me.
Their music was sweet, but it did not last,
Fading in the dust, their eyes vanishing fast.
Then you came, beloved, embodying their grace,
Your shining presence fulfilled every trace.
In you, their splendors and songs did blend,
Fulfilling my soul, God's gifts without end.