- Robert Browning

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Academic Focus: Metric analysis / Historical dialect interpretation. Engaging with diverse historical English builds phonetic agility, linguistic empathy, and reading stamina valued in selective entry exams.

Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,

May gaze through these faint smokes curling whitely,

As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy--

Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?

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verb

To have each of a team's batting line-up positions complete an at-bat in the same half-inning.

Bridal Ballad

31 lines

Edgar Allan Poe·1809–1849·Ballad·American Romanticism

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he ring is on my hand,

And the wreath is on my brow;

Satins and jewels grand

Are all at my command.

And I am happy now.

And my lord he loves me well;

But, when first he breathed his vow,

I felt my bosom swell--

For the words rang as a knell,

And the voice seemed _his_ who fell

In the battle down the dell,

And who is happy now.

But he spoke to reassure me,

And he kissed my pallid brow,

While a reverie came o'er me,

And to the churchyard bore me,

And I sighed to him before me,

Thinking him dead D'Elormie,

"Oh, I am happy now!"

And thus the words were spoken,

And thus the plighted vow,

And, though my faith be broken,

And, though my heart be broken,

Behold the golden keys

That _proves_ me happy now!

Would to God I could awaken

For I dream I know not how,

And my soul is sorely shaken

Lest an evil step be taken,--

Lest the dead who is forsaken

May not be happy now.

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