The inertia of love was fully bloomed into a evolve rose of optimism with two sub-ordinate leaves, his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning and his child Robert Weidman Barrett Browning. He is a love poet with a specialty of his own. Borrowing’s love poetry has a range and realism which are different from his great predecessors. In his love poems Browning describes the passion and treats it from intellectual point of view. In Browning the intellectual element is too powerful to allow the predominance of sensuousness even in his love poems.
This present paper is an attempt to critically access and estimate the variety f situations of love on the most celebrated poems where the maturity of his love thought is magnificently sung. Love was to him the critical point and test of a man’s life. In his poems we see the indictment of possessive love, destructive love or optimistic love. The purpose of this paper is to sort out those significant works talking about different types of love so that the readers can muse on these interpretations.
Furthermore, it may explore Borrowing’s dominant theme ‘love’ as a bright lantern to walk through the vulnerable ways of life. CHAPTER I Introduction 1. 1 Life and Works of Robert Browning Biography Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812, in Comparable (a suburb of London), the first child of Robert and Sarah Anna Browning. His mother was a fervent evangelical and an accomplished pianist. And his father was a clerk in the Bank of England. He was an extremely bright child and a voracious reader and learned Latin, Greek, French and Italian by the time he was fourteen.
Between 1820-26 he attended the school of the Rev. Thomas Ready at Package, and for a short while in 1828, he attended University College London, but most of Borrowing’s education was informal. He often had private tutors, and his father’s unusually large bribery was at his disposal. Like Tennyson, this boy found his work very early, and for fifty years hardly a week passed that he did not write poetry. He began at six to produce verses, in imitation of Byron; but his first known work Pauline (1833), must be considered as a tribute to Shelley and his poetry.
It was soon followed by Paralegals (1835) and Sorrel(1840). A year later, APIPA Passes, the first in a series entitled Bells and Pomegranates was published; the remaining seven parts appeared between 1841-46. On 12 September 1846, Robert Browning married Elizabeth Barrett at SST. Marrowbone Parish Church, London. They left a week later for Florence, Italy, where they spent the remainder of their married life. Their Florentine home, called Case GUID, has been preserved as a memorial to the poets. In 1849, the birth of his son was overshadowed by the death of Borrowing’s mother.
Also in 1849, a two- volume selection of Borrowing’s poetry was published. The following year, Christmas- Eve and Easter-Day was published, and it was five years later before Men and Women appeared. After the death of his wife in 1861, Browning left Florence, never to return. In 1860, however, he had bought the “Old Yellow Book” in a secondhand stall n Florence. This was the source for his epic poem, The Ring and the Book, published in 1868-69. In 1867, Browning received an Honorary M. A. From Oxford and was made and Honorary Fellow of Billion College, Oxford.
Later in 1882, he received an Honorary D. C. L. From Oxford. Browning died on 12 December 1889 at Accretion’s, Venice, but not before he heard the news of the success of his latest volume of poetry, Ashland, published that same day. These lines from the “Epilogue” to that volume offer a fitting tribute to one of the great poets of the Victorian age: One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, reek, Never doubted clouds would Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph, we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake.
On 31 December 1889, Browning was buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. Works of Robert Browning A glance at even the titles which Browning gave his best known volumes-Dramatic Lyrics (1845), Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845), Men and Women (1855), Dramatic Persona (1864)- will suggest how strong the dramatic elements is in all his works. Indeed, all his poems may be divided into three classes- pure dramas, like Stratford ND A Blot in the ‘Escutcheon; dramatic narratives, like APIPA Passes, which are dramatic in form. UT were not meant to be acted; and dramatic lyrics, like The Last Ride Ride Together, which are short poems expressing some strong personal emotions, or describing some dramatic episodes in human life, and in which the hero himself generally tells the story. If we separate all these dramatic poems into three main periods- the early, from 1833 to 1841; the middle, from 1841 to 1868; and the late, from 1868 to 1889. The poems written on the first period were less attractive and obscure.
In the middle period he wrote APIPA Passes, which on the whole the most perfect of his longer poems. Nearly all his best lyrics, dramas, and dramatic poems belong to this middle period. And when The Ring and the Book appeared, in 1868, he had given to the world the noblest expression of his poetic genius. The third period shows Borrowing’s power of revealing the hidden springs of human actions, but he often rambles most tiresomely, and in general his work loses in sustained interest. 1. 2 Origin of love in the poems of Robert Browning Browning was an ardent lover.
The nucleus of his poetry, the enthusiastic love, has en reflected into almost all his poetic creations. The inertia of love was fully bloomed into a lovely rose of optimism, with its two sub-ordinate leaves, his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning and his child Robert Weidman Barrett Browning. Perhaps, it was Browning passionate and forceful love for Elizabeth Barrett that has endowed him great success almost in all the fields, he attempted; “There is nothing sickly or dreamy in him: he has a clear eye, a vigorous grasp, and courage to utter what he sees and handles. (George Eliot 1974). This attitude gave him the confidence to establish an optimistic attitude to life, to the oral, and to almost all existing things, which was the extract of his uncircumcised love. All these contribute a lot in making him the chief exponent of what has been called Victorian Optimism. ‘ This gave Browning recognition in poetic sphere and ranked him as a great poet and esteemed highly as Tennyson, thus he became the voice and spirit of his age, the Victorian era.
Elizabeth Barrett came from a prominent and wealthy family and she was already a well established poet before she met fellow poet Robert Browning. Their relationship began in his admiring her poetry. His audacious first letter moves from loving her books to loving her . Robert had been an admirer of Elizabethan work for some time, and with the help of a friend, John Kenyon, met Elizabeth in 1845. The two quickly fell in love and thus, began one of the most famous courtships in literature.
Her father disapproved of Robert, who believed he was an unreliable fortune hunter, so the couple kept their relationship a secret. Together, they exchanged hundreds of love letters, and by 1846, the couple eloped. Her father disowned her and she faced disgust from her brothers, who believed she had married a low-class gold digger. However, Elizabeth stood by her husband, and shortly after their wedding, they fled to Italy.
These Victorian writers had some aspects in common in their lifestyles as, for instance, the extraordinary education they received at home, their early devotion to learning and writing or a life mostly developed at home due to different reasons as we will see (in Elisabeth case, due to her father’s tyranny as well as her sickly health; in Roberts case, due to his indoor education and his dislike to public life becoming his house his shelter) but we will also point out the differences which exist between them: they belonged to efferent social classes, they were educated in different values and they didn’t succeed in the same way.
However, after getting to know each other through correspondence, they decided to make a new start together in a foreign country in spite of some problems. They represent the triumph of love; a love which started with Roberts admiration to Elizabethan verses and a love which made her leave her paternal prison forever. Such sweet and melodious outpouring of over brimming love was the result of that unprecedented and unrivalled, history-making relationship that Browning shared with Elizabeth Barrett.
Actually, she was the permanent shower of inspiration for Borrowing’s spiritual and intellectual strength. She was the real and only thundering force behind the full-ripe and mature genius of Browning, Cohen writes- “Browning did not write great poetry until he had attained emotional maturity, and this he lacked till the years of his marriage”. (Cohen 1964) This meeting and marital- unions of Browning with Elizabeth Barrett was the peak of pleasure for Browning in comparison of other ecstasies of his life.
This was the supreme experience of Browning whole life feelings supreme experience did not make him a poet rather; Elizabeth Barrett made him a love poet. Through the love that she endowed to him, the man of supreme love experience became the supreme love poet. Her reward was-” By the Fireside”, which could be treated as a poem which treasures Brown almost all romantic feelings, which are kept with the final lock of memory in the heart. This poem could be called the greatest love poem in the English language the other language that has dealt with the topic love.
In this poem we may name glimpse of almost all the real feelings of love, of Browning heart that can be regarded as the real and supreme feelings of Borrowing’s love. Thus, Browning whole life achievement rests on his love which served him as a stepping stone t success and which ultimately became a mile-stone of his success in the both the fields-personal or literacy. Love is not only a success bringer for Browning rather everyone, who loves truly and passionately, becomes successful in almost all the corners of life.
Some one has rightly said that behind every successful man, the woman, and this is the lady, Elizabeth, who works as an abrupt force behind the potentially of this love poetry, and thus, with the help of her loving inspiration, t man succeed in life. Chapter II . Concept of love in literature Love is the most cherished thing in the life of every human being. We all think a it, dream about it, sing about it, and even lose sleep worrying about it. Love is us small word paired with a vital meaning. It’s universal, easy to spell, difficult Todd but impossible to live without.
When we don’t have it, we search for it, when we it, we don’t know what to do with it, when we have it, we fear losing it. Love is the constant source of happiness and sorrow. Love is a feeling for another person s pure, so deep that no one can define it to its true extent. Since the initial period iterate love has been the most dominant theme of writing. This theme has be exercised and celebrated in almost all the fields of literature such as poetry, n drama and so on. And in all periods of all literature love is the most influential theme.
Even in Victorian Age, which is a period of doubt and unrest then also I remains as a prominent theme. Special aspects of love, approaches to love, reach to the torments and delights of romantic love, have been sung with greater pop Shakespeare, Sidney, Done, Andrew Marvel, Burns, Hardy, Yeats and some twentieth century poets . After John Done, Browning is the greatest exponent o hem of love in English poetry. Unlike other poets who always combine love wit sorrow and death, Browning sings of the Joy of love.
His love for his wife also ca considered as his inspiration behind his love poems. The subject of ‘Love Poet given rise to some of the most beautiful and fascinating poetry. The poets illus.’s their feelings, or the feelings of the people concerned with them through the us of figurative language. A love poem is not necessarily a poem about romantic I about romance, marriage and commitment; it could be something else entirely. Seems to be universal timeless. Yet, it’s also very individual, filtered by poets owe lives and expectations. Love can be a different thing for each one of the poets.
N love poems deal with happy positive sides of love but there are also the negative sides such as pain, sadness and loss. There are endless ways in which love can portrayed and occur. There are numerous types of love, whether it’s physical, emotional or romantic love. And in the poems of Robert Browning we get the indictment of various kinds of passions and emotions related to love. Chapter Ill 3. Robert Borrowing’s philosophy of love Robert Browning has a three- fold appeal. He is, first, a passionate singer of love and the world of sense-the lyrical Browning.
Secondly, he is a psychological poet, the subtle delineated of the devious mental processes of human beings. Thirdly, he is a firm believer in the philosophy of optimism. But in the treatment of love he is second to none. Special aspects of love, approaches to love, reactions to the torments, and delights of romantic love, have been sung with greater power by many poets. But, so far matter, depth and touchy-feelings are concerned about the love between a man and a woman, the everlasting knot of love with timeless union, Browning has no impetigo and stands alone rather, becomes the beacon-light for his successors.
The profound love with intense feeling of severe passion, a life that includes lives of love in it, and all its indefinable, link with the infinite reality that is God, one’s complete and intimate understanding for other, the quality of self-abnegation and ennobling, an unspeakable faith and a concrete philosophy, and the perfect way of life that takes two persons to the level of their unlimited and impossible best. In such kind and quality of love, Browning stands as a perfect lyricist. After John Done,
Browning is the greatest exponent of the theme of love in English poetry. Browning considers love to be the basic principle of the universe. Love is the governing force of the universe. For Browning, love is the name of God. He talked of love as the only force that could unify mind with God. Though many phases of love between man and woman are depicted by Browning, he is a matter of particular kind of love poetry. Unlike other love poets who always combine love with sorrow and death, Browning sings of the Joy of love.
Browning has written two kinds of love poems- personal and dramatic. His personal poems are very few, because his bent of mind was fundamentally dramatic. Browning love poetry is both complex and comprehensive. His love poems deal with case of successful as well as unsuccessful love. Of the poems which treat of physical love, about two third, represent feelings of man and one third express the feelings of women. In love poems where a woman’s passion dominates there is less intellectual elements.
When a poem deals with love of a man it shows greater intellectual depth. Moreover, the tragedies of woman in love appear more interesting to the poet than the tragedies of men. Love, for Browning was the peak of activities, of which human beings are capable, thus, he devoted his most intense and perfect consideration to it. Unlike the romantic poets, he created his world of love- lyrics like a practiced lover and he did not stick to a specific subjects rather he touched and treated almost all the colors of love emotion.
Browning subject was neither happy nor unhappy love but love as an experience, a love that includes both the ends of ideal, spiritual and physical love and seers a line of horizon, whose reality was bound up with its permanence; his greatest love poetry is tutee reflective of idealism in love as well as the physical charm of love. His treatment of love is bold, realistic and unconventional. Whereas other Victorian considered the body as an obstacle in the path of spiritual emancipation, Browning frankly allows importance of body.
He believes that physical pleasures are as important for a successful married in this world, as for heavenly bliss in the next. Browning feels the way to develop the human soul lays in love and the love has to be complete. It is to involve physical as well spiritual. Through human love it is possible to achieve divine love. Love is a complete experience in which the body, the mind, and the soul have their equal share. The sphere of Browning love poems have left no stone unturned.
As Wordsmith has recorded each flattering of flower’s petal, doing the same, Browning thinks finds-out, and gives an unmatched analysis of psychology of love, recording the each pulse of love emotion. Browning is not only the poet of normal psychology, rather, at some places, he expands his limit and goes beyond, discovers some specific but still hidden aspects of abnormality in lover’s love-emotion unapproachable by the poetic-eyes of other writers. Apart from Browning bulk of love-poems, his analysis of abnormal psychology of love, he is first and foremost.
He places his lovers in various situations and examines their psychological implications. His strong feeling in the ennobling power of love entitle him a place of distinction among the love poems. Chapter IV 4. Reflection of different types of love in Borrowing’s selected poems 4. 1 “My Last Duchess”: A study of illusive love Synopsis of the poem: “My Last Duchess” is narrated by the duke of Ferreira to an envoy (representative) of another nobleman, whose daughter the duke is soon to marry. At the poem’s peeing, the duke has Just pulled back a curtain to reveal to the envoy a portrait of his previous duchess.
The portrait was painted by Far Pandora, a monk and painter whom the duke believes captured the singularity of the duchess’s glance. However, the duke insists to the envoy that his former wife’s deep, passionate glance was not reserved solely for her husband. As he puts it, she was “too easily impressed” into sharing her affable nature. His tone grows harsh as he recollects how both human and nature could impress her, which insulted him since she did not g to the “gift” of his “nine-hundred-years-old” family name and lineage sign to “lesson” her on her unacceptable love of everything, he inset commands” to have her killed.
The duke then ends his story and asks rise and accompany him back to the count, the father of the duke’s I and the envoy’s employer. He mentions that he expects a high dowry, happy enough with the daughter herself. He insists that the envoy w “together” – a lapse of the usual social expectation, where the higher would walk separately – and on their descent he points out a bronze Neptune in his collection. Historical background of the poem: The poem is preceded by “Ferreira:”, indicating that the speaker is MO
II detested, the fifth Duke of Ferreira (1533-1598), who, at the age of 25, did Cosmic De’ Medici, the 14-year-old daughter of Cosmic I De’ Medici, of Tuscany, and Eleanor did Toledo. Lucrative was not well educated, a could be considered “nouveau richer” in comparison to the venerable distinguished Est. family (the Duke’s remark regarding his gift of a “n years-old name” clearly indicates that he considered his bride bane She came with a sizeable dowry, and the couple married in 1558. He her for two years before she died on 21 April 1561, at age 17. There w suspicion of poisoning.
The Duke then sought the hand of Barbara, ii f the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Huh sister of the Count of Tyro, Ferdinand II. The count was in charge of a marriage; the chief of his entourage, Nikolas Madras, a native of Inn courier. Madras is presumably the silent listener in the poem. The to named in the poem, painter FRRГ Pandora and sculptor Claus of Inns fictional. Love as an illusion My Last Duchess,” published in 1842, is arguably Borrowing’s most FAA monologue, with good reason. It engages the reader on a number of historical, psychological, ironic, theatrical, and more.
Browning has pr an exceptional way in this poem. This poem shows Borrowing’s Knowles different aspects of human nature and his analysis of human character motives. The poet makes the Duke talk about his ‘last duchess’ in a dry and the Duke thus throws light not only on the character of the Duck his own mind also. In attempting to describe her, he has succeeded a his own narrow and hideous heart. He was proud, haughty, snobbish, tyrant. But the Duchess was a kind-hearted, amiable and lovable lad pride or vanity or haughtiness which women of high rank usually have whatever she looked on, and smiled at everybody who passed her.
As She had A heart- how shall I say? Too soon made glad Too easily impressed ; she liked whatever She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. (line: 21-24) But her amiable and gay disposition was intolerable to him. He was possessive person. He used to give costly gifts to the Duchess and took it as a symbol of his love towards him. He was proud of belonging to a family of nine-hundred- years-old name and therefore took a patronizing attitude towards his wife. He thinks that he has conferred a title of a nine-hundred-years old name upon the Duchess and she should be grateful towards him.
The Duke thinks that he loves his wife a lot UT fails to understand the lacking of mental attachment which is the core of a happy conjugal relationship. He says- She thanked men,-good! But thanked Somehow-I know not how-as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody gift. (line: 31-34) It also indicates the Jealous and suspicious mind of the Duke. His Jealousy and suspicion have ruined his love and turned it into an illusion. She was not at all a flirt and therefore the Duke’s Jealousy on account of her amiable nature is totally unjustified.
We feel sympathy for the lady who, has fallen into the clutches of a tyrant ho could not understand or appreciate her and who froze her smile with his commands. His cruel and tyrannical nature reflects through these lines when he says- together. (line: 45-46) I gave commands; Then all smile stopped Actually, the Duke suffers from superiority complex. Name, fame, vanity and status were prior to him than his wife. He considers himself far superior to what she was. But we can understand that the Duchess must have been very gentle and innocent while the Duke was a conceited, self-opinionated high-brow.
The Duke tries to represent her having beneath dignity to marry but we can guess that he did not serve her. He has strange notion of dignity. What we would call gentleness in the Duchess, he considers stupidity. What we think arrogance and snobbery in him, he considers dignity or high breeding. Thus it depicts the pathetic consequence of an unmatched relationship. Browning considers love to be a condition of moral enlistment of the human soul. And the Duke is hollow and mean because he has never known how to love and never realized the innocence and purity of his wife. Duke’s love for the Duchess is fake, showy and an illusion.
It is not love at all as he fails to accept her with all her natural qualities both good and bad. Rather he wanted her to behave in the way he wishes. Undoubtedly, it is a proper indictment of illusion disguised in the veil of love. Love for art One can also understand this poem as a commentary on art. The duke remains enamored with the woman he has had killed, though his affection now rests on a representation of her. In other words, he has chosen to love the ideal image of her rather than the reality, similar to how the narrator of “Porphyry’s Lover” chose a static, dead love than one destined to change in the throes of life.
In many ways, this is the artist’s dilemma, which Browning explores in all of his work. As poet, he attempts to capture contradiction and movement, psychological complexity that cannot be pinned down into one object, and yet in the end all he can create is a collection of static lines. The duke attempts to be an artist in his life, turning a walk roger down the hallway into a performance, but he is always hampered ideal that inspires his performance cannot change.
Picture of mall society – In order to critique the oppressive male dominating society of his voice to villainous characters each representing the antithesis of Browning does not eliminate all his personal virtues from all his arraying Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems become more open unveiling the truth and the benevolent nature of the poet. Perhaps Borrowing’s willingness to present the subject of love in a less con transcending, and nurturing way that lead to her husband’s evolve Here, we find the Duke as a dominating character.
And the fatal e Duchess is nothing but a sacrifice to the free will of male domino male people always think themselves superior to the female. The and female are bound to obey those commands. A woman is Just hands of a man and is forced to behave in the way a man demand thinks that it is below his dignity to rectify the behavior of the Du cause he doesn’t take his wife as his soul mate. If he would take half in the truest sense, he would be able to understand the purr matter of great pity that only because of vain superiority complex the ecstasy of true mutual bond of love and relationship.
Physical attractions To Browning lovers, the lady physical charms are not main attar needs not to be an embodiment of loveliness with pearly teeth a Browning did not believe in the idealization of women’s physical of physical appearance are rare in his poetry. He concentrates on woman can exert in the relationship of a man. That man may be over. In this poem ” My Last Duchess” when the Duke refers tot his dead wife, he shows the annoyance and Jealousy of the Duke: no doubt, When I passed her, but who passed without Much the same smile? (line: 43-45) 4. “The Last Ride Together”: A study of optimistic love Synopsis The poem “The Last Ride Together” appeared in Browning Men It is one of his better-known love-poems. This poem is the soliloquy has been courting a woman but who has in the long run been reek love for her has proved futile and his whole life seems to have FAA might have broken his heart but , instead of scolding and reproach ere in pride and thankfulness, and says that he would be satisfies company for a last ride with him. The lady considers his proposal the lover awaits her decision with almost suspended breath.
She conflict between her pride and her pity, but her pity wins and SSH lover’s last request. The lover is delighted by the prospect of riding once more in his life. His last thought has not at least been vain. That the world might end the same night! He might have won her tackled her differently; but he might have earned her hatred too. Now at least she doesn’t hate him and has been agreed to go on a last ride with him. He consoles himself for his failure as all men strive in the world and few succeed. The lover is therefore , not the only one to have failed in his ambition.
There is always a wide difference between a man’s aspiration and his achievement. The lover then compares his achievement with that of certain other categories of individuals, and finds that his lot is better than theirs. The lover has compared himself with a statesman, a poet, a soldier, a sculptor, and a musician. He finds out that the achievement of these different individuals is nothing as compared to that of the lover who is at least enjoying the pleasure of his mistress’s company on a last ride. He also argues that the rejection of his love by his mistress is a blessing in disguise.
Having failed on earth, the lover can now die with an anticipation of love’s fulfillment in heaven. Finally, he thinks that there is a possibility that this last ride may continue forever and ever, and that this moment may become eternal. Emotional intensity of the lover “The Last Ride Together” sings the glory of failure in love. Although the poem is dominated by intellectual analysis, it yet shows Browning as the singer of passionate love. The intensity of emotion characterizes many of the lines in the poem.
As the lover’s heart overflow with Joy, some of his statements become highly charged with feeling and emotion. For instance when his beloved is considering his final request for a ride he feels that there is life and death in the balance for him and as if the circulation of his blood has stopped. When she agrees to his proposal, he feels that the circulation of his blood has started again and he experiences a feeling of elation: The blood replenished me again : My last thought was at least not vain : I and my mistress, side by side
Shall be together, breathe and When she leans against him, he feels as if he is in contact with heaven. There is a passionate quality in the whole of the third stanza in which he describes how a lover’s passion might draw cloud, sunset, moonrise, and star shine down on himself, near and yet more near, till flesh must fade for heaven was here! The lover experiences intense Joy, and intense fear when the beloved leans against him and lingers. It is a moment of ecstasy for him. This poem is a proper example of romantic love. Though the lover is in an emotional and romantic mood, he is not totally devoid f reality.
