Great Regulars: She is not yet ready to commit

to language the feelings that are motivating her. Quite likely, she feels that too much outward verbal expression may dampen those exquisite feelings.

If she committed her words to paper, they would be like a "torch" that would "cast light on each" of their faces, but only if the wind did not first blow out that fire.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Barrett Browning's Sonnet 13

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The speaker still sounds a bit tentative as she states, "If thou must love me"; she continues to feel that she needs to remain somewhat uncertain as she contemplates their relationship. At the same time, her tentativeness is to some extent offset by engaging the term, "must." At least she does not insult the man by saying, "if you really love me."

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Barrett Browning's Sonnet 14

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In order to provide some other activity besides sitting in his kitchen at pheasantless and ridgeless Pheasant Ridge, he "could drive over to Quail Falls." And at Quail Falls, he could play bridge all day. But the problem with spending the day playing bridge at Quail Falls is that there are no quail there and neither is there a falls.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Collins' The Golden Years

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In his teens, the first president of the United States, George Washington, penned several loves poems. The following two examples exhibit youthful enthusiasm as well an immature command of the language, but they do, in fact, offer that personal glimpse that is so tantalizing.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Two Poems by George Washington

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