Audio recording (download wav.file)

  (courtesy Rothe Technologies, Inc.)

Robert Browning (1812-1889):

All the breath and the bloom of the year in the bag of one bee:

All the wonder and wealth of the mine in the heart of one gem:

In the core of one pearl, all the shade and the shine of the sea:

Breath and bloom, shade and shine, --wonder, wealth,- and, how far above them,

    Truth, that's brighter than gem,

    Trust, that's purer than pearl--

Brightest truth, purest trust in the universe-all were for me

    In the kiss of one girl.