"With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee...," by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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XXXIV. "With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee..."
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee
As those, when thou shalt call me by my name---
Lo, the vain promise! is the same, the same,
Perplexed and ruffled by life's strategy?
When called before, I told how hastily
I dropped my flowers or brake off from a a game,
To run and answer with the smile that came
At play last moment, and went on with me
Through my obedience. When I answer now,
I drop a grave thought, break from solitude;
Yet still my heart goes to thee---ponder how---
Not as to a single good, but all my good!
Lay thy hand on it, best one, and allow
That no child's foot could run fast as this blood.