If I, that day, and, being the girl I was,
Had shown a gentler spirit, less arrogance,
It had not hurt me. Ah, you’ll not mistake
The point here. I but only think, you see,
More justly, that’s more humbly, of myself,
Than when I tried a crown on and supposed . . .
Nay, laugh, sir,—I’ll laugh with you!—pray you, laugh.
I’ve had so many birthdays since that day,
I’ve learnt to prize mirth’s opportunities,
Which come too seldom. Was it you who said
I was not changed? the same Aurora? Ah,
We could laugh there, too! Why, Ulysses’ dog
Knew him, and wagged his tail and died: but if
I had owned a dog, I too, before my Troy,
And if you brought him here, . . I warrant you
He’d look into my face, bark lustily,
And live on stoutly, as the creatures will
Whose spirits are not troubled by long loves.
A dog would never know me, I’m so changed;
Much less a friend . . except that you’re misled
By the colour of the hair, the trick of the voice,
Like that of Aurora Leigh’s.’
‘Sweet trick of voice
I would be a dog for this, to know it at last,
And die upon the falls of it. O love,
O best Aurora! are you then so sad,
You scarcely had been sadder as my wife?’
‘Your wife, sir! I must certainly be changed,
If I, Aurora, can have said a thing
