The Year's at the Spring

The Year's at the Spring The year's at the spring, And day's at the morn; Morning's at seven; The hill-side's dew-pearled; The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn; God's in his Heaven— All's right with the world! Robert Browning This poem has a very serene theme that fully shows the beauty of the period of spring. It is a very short poem of only eight verses with a simple rhyme scheme of "A-B-C-D-A-B-C-D". It begins by stating that it is springtime. It is morning, in particular seven AM: "Morning's at seven" (verse three). Then the poem continues by describing what is happening: there is dew on the hillside, the lark is already flying and the snail is resting on a thorn. Finally the poem is concluded with a scene of God in Heaven and the phrase "All's right with the world!" (verse eight), completing the scene of universal tranquility. This poem's theme suggests a natural order and peace that only seems to be present during springtime. The speaker gives an overview of this everlasting tranquility. Even God himself is peaceful. This is my favourite of Browning's poems that I have read, for while I read it I gain a feeling of interior peace and order. I also believe that Browning deliberately made the poem short to trasnmit the message of peace in a few words, o that the impact on the reader could be sharp and quick. The scene Browning could hav tried to portray with "The Year's at the Spring"

The Lost Leader

The Lost Leader I. Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat--- Found the one gift of which fortune bereft us, Lost all the others she lets us devote; They, with the gold to give, doled him out silver, So much was theirs who so little allowed: How all our copper had gone for his service! Rags---were they purple, his heart had been proud! We that had loved him so, followed him, honoured him, Lived in his mild and magnificent eye, Learned his great language, caught his clear accents, Made him our pattern to live and to die! Shakespeare was of us, Milton was for us, Burns, Shelley, were with us,---they watch from their graves! He alone breaks from the van and the free-men, ---He alone sinks to the rear and the slaves! II. We shall march prospering,---not thro' his presence; Songs may inspirit us,---not from his lyre; Deeds will be done,---while he boasts his quiescence, Still bidding crouch whom the rest bade aspire: Blot out his name, then, record one lost soul more, One task more declined, one more foot-path untrod, One more devils'-triumph and sorrow for angels, One wrong more to man, one more insult to God! Life's night begins: let him never come back to us! There would be doubt, hesitation and pain, Forced praise on our part---the glimmer of twilight, Never glad confident morning again! Best fight on well, for we taught him---strike gallantly, Menace our heart ere we master his own; Then let him receive the new knowledge and wait us, Pardoned in heaven, the first by the throne! Robert Browning This poem of Browning is very peculiar. Divided in his typical style of "stanza chapters", this poem can be considered an ode to another poet or maybe even to himself. The speakers of the poem are a group of people. They are the followers of this "Lost Leader", and tell that they have followed him wherever he went and did all that he ordered. in verse thirteen and fourteen four poets are mentioned: Shakespeare, Milton, Burns and Shelley. The reason for mentioning these poets is that they were like "mentors" for the "Lost Leader" and that they now gaze at the work of their "disciple" from their graves. In the rest of the poem the speakers continue to mention the achievements of their leader. I believe this poem to be a praise to Browning because he could indirectly be speaking of himself. The four poets which are mentioned could have been his greatest inspirations, and all the achievements of the "Lost Leader" could well be metaphorically his own. Information on William Shakespeare Information on John Milton Information on Robert Burns Information on Percy Bysshe Shelley

Time's Revenges

Time's Revenges

I've a Friend, over the sea;
I like him, but he loves me.
It all grew out of the books I write;
They find such favour in his sight
That he slaughters you with savage looks
Because you don't admire my books.
He does himself though,---and if some vein
Were to snap to-night in this heavy brain,
To-morrow month, if I lived to try,
Round should I just turn quietly,
Or out of the bedclothes stretch my hand
Till I found him, come from his foreign land
To be my nurse in this poor place,
And make my broth and wash my face
And light my fire and, all the while,
Bear with his old good-humoured smile
That I told him ``Better have kept away
``Than come and kill me, night and day,
``With, worse than fever throbs and shoots,
``The creaking of his clumsy boots.''
I am as sure that this he would do
As that Saint Paul's is striking two.
And I think I rather ... woe is me!
---Yes, rather would see him than not see,
If lifting a hand could seat him there
Before me in the empty chair
To-night, when my head aches indeed,
And I can neither think nor read
Nor make these purple fingers hold
The pen; this garret's freezing cold!

And I've a Lady---there he wakes,
The laughing fiend and prince of snakes
Within me, at her name, to pray
Fate send some creature in the way
Of my love for her, to be down-torn,
Upthrust and outward-borne,
So I might prove myself that sea
Of passion which I needs must be!
Call my thoughts false and my fancies quaint
And my style infirm and its figures faint,
All the critics say, and more blame yet,
And not one angry word you get.
But, please you, wonder I would put
My cheek beneath that lady's foot
Rather than trample under mine
The laurels of the Florentine,
And you shall see how the devil spends
A fire God gave for other ends!
I tell you, I stride up and down
This garret, crowned with love's best crown,
And feasted with love's perfect feast,
To think I kill for her, at least,
Body and soul and peace and fame,
Alike youth's end and manhood's aim,
---So is my spirit, as flesh with sin,
Filled full, eaten out and in
With the face of her, the eyes of her,
The lips, the little chin, the stir
Of shadow round her month; and she
---I'll tell you,---calmly would decree
That I should roast at a slow fire,
If that would compass her desire
And make her one whom they invite
To the famous ball to-morrow night.

There may be heaven; there must be hell;
Meantime, there is our earth here---well!

Robert Browning

Another one of Browning's lengthy poems, "Time's Revenges" has two speakers. The speakers love each other, but they are separated by the sea. This is proofed in line one "I've a Friend, over the sea;". Friend capitalized could mean that this person is much more than a simple friend. The first speaker, who is presumed to be a woman for she says "I like him, but he leaves me" (verse two) speaks about him and how she found him. She wishes him to be there, for she is cold without his presence. In the second stanza the male speaker speaks of the lady. he speaks of how in her love she could say anything about him. For him she is almost demonic in their spiritual union. The third stanza, which is composed of only two verses, seems to have the two previous speakers talking together. I believe that this last stanza states that even though the two lovers are apart, and their destiny is unclear, at the moment they must be content with that they have and be patient.

In this explanation about Browning and his lover, Barrett, it states that they were forced to flee to Italy, which is separated from Britain by the sea.

Parting at Morning

Parting At Morning

Round the cape of a sudden came the sea,
And the sun looked over the mountain's rim:
And straight was a path of gold for him,
And the need of a world of men for me.

Robert Browning

This short four verse poem represents the typical scene of the sailor leaving his loved one and then going out to sea. The speaker in this poem is a woman, for she is addressing a man during his departure. In the first verse the sea arrives. This could be metaphorical, for it could represent the day of shore leave. So the sea has come, the time that the speaker's loved one will leave is finally here. The second verse explains that it is morning, for the sun is just starting to appear over the mountain's rim. The third verse might suggest the fact that the sailor's adventure and trip will bring great riches. The "path of gold" could mean the finding of a treasure or the gaining of money. The last verse suggests the sadness of the speaker, and the hollow solitude that will follow the "adieu" of her loved one. The speaker has a need of the world of men, the need for a lover that she will not see in a long time. I believe this poem is just a short reconstruction of the typical scene of "goodbye". I think it is also a criticism to this scene, for many times lovers leave to never come back. Maybe the same thing could have happened to Browning himself.

Alternate interpretaion for "Parting at Morning"
Various comments for "Parting at Morning"

Song

Song I. Nay but you, who do not love her, Is she not pure gold, my mistress? Holds earth aught---speak truth---above her? Aught like this tress, see, and this tress, And this last fairest tress of all, So fair, see, ere I let it fall? II. Because, you spend your lives in praising; To praise, you search the wide world over: Then why not witness, calmly gazing, If earth holds aught---speak truth---above her? Above this tress, and this, I touch But cannot praise, I love so much! Robert Browning "Song" is yet another poem divided into two "stanza chapters". Both stanzas are relatively short (six verses each). This is also another one of Browning's love poems. The rhyme scheme is also very interesting: A-B-A-B-C-C. It is as though the two C's together conclude each stanza. Another peculiar aspect is that the first stanza ends with a question mark, while the second stanza is concluded with an exclamation mark. The first stanza asks a question, and the second stanza answers it with a very powerful tone. This way of ending a poem with an exclamation is typical of Browning's. The idea of this poem is a song about the speaker's love. The speaker is talking to his misress, and asks if his loce is beautiful;he also states that she is fair and is afraid of losing her . The speaker also in the second stanza criticizes his mistress, for she spends her lifetime praising peopel and searching for love.The speaker instead is unable to praise, for he already loves and doesn't need to praise other people. Browning could have written his love peoms to Elizabeth Barrett, his love

Now!

Now! Out of your whole life give but a moment! All of your life that has gone before, All to come after it, -- so you ignore, So you make perfect the present, condense, In a rapture of rage, for perfection's endowment, Thought and feeling and soul and sense, Merged in a moment which gives me at last You around me for once, you beneath me, above me -- Me, sure that, despite of time future, time past, This tick of life-time's one moment you love me! How long such suspension may linger? Ah, Sweet, The moment eternal -- just that and no more -- When ecstasy's utmost we clutch at the core, While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut, and lips meet! Robert Browning This fifteen verse poem to be fully enjoyed should be read in one breath. The poem builds up from the beginnning and ends with a climactic phrase. Many exclamation marks and commas throughout the poem help reinforce the feeling of quickness and of imemdiacy that it suggests. The title, which is short and fully explains this feeling preludes to the action that is happening now. The poem is explaining about the importance of the moment. The first verse "Out of your whole life give but a moment!" introduces the idea. Then, throughout the poem this idea is expanded and explained in better depth. Phrases such as "Thought and feeling and soul and sense, Merged in a moment which gives me at last (verses six and seven) and "This tick of life-time's one moment you love me!" expresses the poem's message of the importance of this single moment. The last two verses (thirteen and fourteen) "When ecstasy's utmost we clutch at the core, While cheeks burn, arms open. eyes shut, and leeps meet!"conclude the poem by stating what happens in this one single moment: the final ecstatic union of two lovers. I believe Browning here is trying to express how all his love for a woman can be concentrated in just that moment. he is saying that all his soul and love is unleashed the moment when he finally kisses his lover. An artwork which fully expresses the idea of this poem

Meeting at Night

Meeting At Night I. The grey sea and the long black land; And the yellow half-moon large and low; And the startled little waves that leap In fiery ringlets from their sleep, As I gain the cove with pushing prow, And quench its speed i' the slushy sand. II. Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match, And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and fears, Than the two hearts beating each to each! Robert Browning This is another one of Browning's love poems for which he is famous. "Meeting at Night" is divided into two stanzas of six verses each. Each stanza is numbered, as if they were chapters of the poems. The rhyme scheme is "A-B-C-C-B-A"; this rhyme scheme is unusual yet pleasing for it is like a wave: the schemse starts at "A", reaches the bottom at the two "C's" and goes back to the top at the final "A" of the stanza. This poem, like the name suggests, is about a trip and the final meeting of the two lovers. In the first stanza, the voyage of one of the protagonists is discussed. The elements of "Night" can be found in verse one "The grey sea and the long black land", where the land and sea are dark because of no light, and in verse two "And the yellow half -moon large and low". The protagonist by sea reaches land, a "slushy sand" (verse six) beach. In the second stanza the trip of the protagonist continues, crossing fields to finally reach his home. He taps the pane (verse nine) and after "joys and fears" (verse eleven), the two lovers are finally together. A further analysis of "Meeting at Night" Excerpt of an essay of "Meeting at Night" First part of an essay of "Meeting at Night"

Life in a Bottle

Life in a Bottle

Escape me?
Never--
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
So long as the world contains us both,
Me the loving and you the loth,
While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
My life is a fault at last, I fear:
It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
But what if I fail of my purpose here?
It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,
And, baffled, get up and begin again,--
So the chace takes up one's life, that's all.
While, look but once from your farthest bound
At me so deep in the dust and dark,
No sooner the old hope goes to ground
Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark,
I shape me--
Ever
Removed!

Robert Browning

The first thing that one notices in this poem is the shortness of the first three verses:this is because they are an answer to something that the speaker has heard. First he ponders about the statement (verse one). Then in verse two he answers sharply and quickly with a "Never-"; finally he concludes in verse three his remark by exclaiming "Beloved!". Here it is understandable that the speaker is replying to his loved one. A similar format is used in the last three verses. The main bulk of the poems seems to be a monolgue of the speaker where he is emphasizing the idea of his beloved one never escaping him. In verse four, five, six and seven the idea of the speaker and the beloved being together is expressed. The comparison of the speaker and the lover occurs throughout these four verses: "I am I, You are You", "Me and You", "While One, must the other" (verse four,six,seven, respectively). The poet afterwards expresses his fear of loss, of failure of purpose (verse eleven), of scarce succeeding (verse ten). This probably is the fear of the loss of his beloved. In the final part of the poem the speaker talks about some of the consequcnes of failure, like "hope going to ground" (verse eighteen), and "dust and dark" (verse seventeen). Finally, the poem is concluded with "Ever" and "Removed" (verse twenty one and twenty two), probably representing the eternal loss of his loved one.

This poem conveys the Fear of Loss of one's partner: here is how to overcome it

"Heap cassia, sandal-buds and stripes"

"Heap cassia, sandal-buds and stripes" Heap cassia, sandal-buds and stripes Of labdanum, and aloe-balls, Smeared with dull nard an Indian wipes From out her hair: such balsam falls Down sea-side mountain pedestals, From tree-tops where tired winds are fain, Spent with the vast and howling main, To treasure half their island-gain. And strew faint sweetness from some old Egyptian's fine worm-eaten shroud Which breaks to dust when once unrolled; Or shredded perfume, like a cloud From closet long to quiet vowed, With mothed and dropping arras hung, Mouldering her lute and books among, As when a queen, long dead, was young. Robert Browning This poem is composed of two stanzas of eight verses each. The first four seem to describe a certain woman's physical attributes, especially what she wears. Even in the title, which is also the first verse of the poem, there is a part of this description. In the first stanza the descrition seems a very dlightful one: the speaker talks about her hair and treasure. It almost seems like a praise to this woman, but there is also a tone which preludes to the second stanza. In this second stanza the description becomes more morbid and gruesome. In verse ten "Egyptian's fine worm-eaten shroud" there is an interesting contrast. The words "fine" and "worm-eaten" together create an image that is pleasing and disgusting at the same time. Other words like "shredded" and "plume" (verse twelve) give this sense of good and bad at the same time. The poem ends with "As when a queen, long dead, was young." This could explain the reason why there are worms and shredded plumes: the woman is dead. But even in death she is as beautiful as she was in life. The woman in this poem could have been a dead Egyptian Queen

My Star

My Star

All, that I know
Of a certain star
Is, it can throw
(Like the angled spar)
Now a dart of red,
Now a dart of blue
Till my friends have said
They would fain see, too,
My star that dartles the red and the blue!
Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs furled:
They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.
What matter to me if their star is a world?
Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.

Robert Browning

This thirteen verse poems of Browning can be divided into two parts. The first eight verses, which are quite short (four to five words per verse) detail the author's knowledge of his star. This star continuously changes, shooting darts of red or blue. In the remaining five verses the poet talks about of how his friends have stars as well. The poet's star hangs after having stopped over him. The poemm is concluded with the phrase "Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it." (verse thirteen). I believe that the star in this poem is one's true love. The person that someone love changes continually. This change could be in personality, in attitude, in everything. Also, even though many other people have stars, the speaker doesn't care if their loved one might be "better" than his, because his love has opened her soul to him. This could mean that he has embraced fully his true love and loves her no matter what. I personally think that everyone has a star, but only a few can completely embrace it.

A few facts and an analysis of "My Star"