Robert Browning

I first began reading "Porhyria’s Lover", by Robert Browning, thinking that it might be a beautiful passionate love story. In a way, it still turned out to be a passionate love story, but in a twisted and on insane way. The poem actually left me sad, confused, and angry in the end.

In the beginning of the poem, the weather is described. It states, “The sullen wind was soon awake, / It tore the elm-tops down for spite, / And did its worse to vex the lake.” I perceived these events to foreshadow the forthcoming events. The speaker is like the sullen wind being awakened and suddenly being destructive. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker seems to be passive and sullen, and then all of a sudden, he takes over the situation and strangles his lover. It is evident that he is sad from line 5 of the poem when he tells, “I listened with heart fit to break.” Porphyria on the other hand seems quite the opposite to him. She came in with a strong presence as she “shut the cold out and the storm.” She did many things around his cottage and finally “last” she sat down by his side. This “last” could be a foreshadowing that her sitting by his side is the last thing she will do. In addition, it could have made him even sadder that this is the last thing she did when she entered in. He seemed to be the last thing on her mind. Her next moves seem to be extremely intimate with him almost as if seducing him. The reason for his sadness becomes clear to the reader in the following lines:

“Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavour,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me for ever.” (22-25).

In his eyes, she was too weak to ever overcome her pride and truly be with him forever. He would only ever be someone on the side to her whom to which she could not give her whole heart. In the next couple of stanzas, the mood of the poem seems to pick up and he seems to be happier. He states, “Happy and proud; at last I knew / Porhyria worshipped me; surprise / Made my heart swell, and still it grew” (32-34). The speaker finally feels as if he had her all to himself and that she is “perfectly pure.” In the next instant, to sustain this love forever that he had in that instant, he strangled her to death with her own hair. In his mind, killing her was the only way to be able to have her completely forever. After he killed her, it becomes obvious that the speaker’s sanity needs to be questioned. He opened her eyelids and says she “laughed the blue eyes without strain” and “blushed bright beneath my burning kiss.” She still seemed very much alive in his eyes. He then propped her head up on his shoulder reversing their previous roles.

The last few lines of the poem give me an eerie feeling every time I read them. He says, “And thus we sit together now, / And all night long we have not stirred, / And yet God has not said a word!” (57-60). It seems as if he has found comfort in what he has done and still will not let the image of their forever love together go. Because he could not fully have her before, he now seems to be creating his own false image of happiness and a life with her. The last line seems especially creepy when he mentions that God has not said a word. Is he trying to convince himself that it is okay because in his mind God is staying out of the situation? It is evident that this woman and their love have had a maddening effect on him and in result, the consequences have been devastating.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I thought that Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese was a beautiful collection of sonnets from what was published in our text. I loved the way that she described her pure and total love for Robert Browning, whom she was courting at the time that she wrote these sonnets. Sonnet 43, one of her most well known poems, was incredible to me the way that she was able to describe her love. It’s almost as if she writes the true definition of love here in all of its greatness.

She begins with, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” These lines are some of her most famous lines and actually some of the most well known lines in all of poetry. After this first line, she follows it with 13 exquisite lines answering that very question. She begins, “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of Being and ideal Grace” (2-4). Here she seems to be describing an inconceivable size and amount of love. Even she herself can not conceive of how great her love is for him. It is fitting that these lines are first in the poem. As she begins to describe her love, she admits that she can not really begin to describe the feelings that she has because of their greatness. In turn, she then continues to describe her love as being with her day and night “by sun and candle-light.” She loves this man as much as any man loves his born rights and freedom, one of mans most treasured possessions. She states, “I love thee freely as men strive for Right.” Lines I found particular moving to me and interesting were, “I love thee with the passion put to use / In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.” (9-10). Elizabeth Browning had grief before she had her love for Robert from some other source. Her love for him is so deep and passionate that all the passions of hers that were once grief or any other emotion, are now in her love for him. In addition, she loves him unconditionally, unquestioningly with her “childhood’s faith.” A child’s faith is known to be one of the deepest, truest faiths known. A child usually does not question or doubt things, they just naturally accept their beliefs as they are.

In Browning’s last lines of the sonnet, she exclaims, “With my lost saints – I love with the breath, / Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and if God choose, / I shall but love thee better after death.” (12-15). It is clear that Elizabeth Browning loves him with everything that she is and wants to be able to give that to him. She believes in her love for him so much that she believes that when they die, she will love him even more in heaven. How passionate! Her love extends beyond what they have in this lifetime. She hopes it to last and grow for an eternity.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

While reading some of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poetry, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” really made me think about the life and mindset of a soldier at war. Tennyson’s poem tells about a brigade of 600 British cavalry in the Crimean War who follow an order to make a foolish charge towards Russian forces. The poem honors the courage of these men and asks the reader to do the same. One of the things that really struck me in the poem is the way the men knew that they were galloping towards their death, yet they never had fear or questioned the orders of their commander. It was an honor to die and they expected nothing less.

The poem seems to have a steady beat almost with a galloping rhythm. While reading the poem, I felt like I was galloping along with the soldiers as they rode to their death. It really helps the reader to be able to connect with the Brigade and feel the atmosphere. In addition, the poem seems to be repetitive in many parts. The repetitive sounding of the poem reminds me of a brigade of soldiers all following orders and doing the same thing over and over. It gives the nature of the soldier.

When the soldiers were given their orders, “Forward the Light Brigade!” the speaker asks, “Was there a man dismay’d?” He then quickly answers as if he already knew the answer, “Not tho’ the soldier knew some one had blunder’d.” The soldiers knew that going forward was a mistake, yet not one of them showed fear or distress. Lines 13-17 seems to me like a mindset that has been drilled in the soldiers heads over and over so that they all have the same mind and are thinking the same. He describes:

“Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred” (ln 13-17).

All the cavalry knew to do is to follow orders and obey their commander. They never questioned or had hesitation, yet they rode courageously “into the valley of Death.”

The third stanza is interesting in the way it tells about the cannons around them. It tells of the “cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, [and] cannon in front of them.” The word cannon repeating gave me a sense that the cannons were all around them and were numerous. It seemed Tennyson is creating an overwhelming image here. Even though the cavalry was being shot at from all sides, they still “boldly” rode on “into the jaws of Death” and “mouth of Hell.” This image is a fierce image of death in which someone would think, “well surely they will turn around soon,” yet the six hundred continue to ride on.

As the cavalry charged the army, “all the world wonder’d.” Tennyson does not leave out an outsider’s view of the charge on the Russians. In fact, the worlds view is probably supposed to be identical to the reader’s. The rest of the world is not able to understand all that those soldiers are feeling. Only a soldier in battle can understand exactly why he continues to ride even though he knows that he is riding to his death. At the end of this stanza after the British cavalry have broke through their line and destroyed Russian and Cossack opponents, they ride back but, “not the six hundred.” At the end of every stanza before this one it has been, “Rode the six hundred,” but now the affects of the battle can be seen. The six hundred are no longer six hundred anymore.

The never ending pounding of the cannons can be heard by the reader again in the next stanza. Lines 39-44 are identical to the beginning of the third stanza in its description of the cannons except that the cannons are behind them now. The “survivors” and “heroes” have “came thro’ the “jaws of Death” and the “mouth of Hell.”

The last stanza seems to address the reader directly. He tells the reader to “Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, noble six hundred!” Even though the charge was foolish, we should still honor it for the soldiers and their courage through it. The poem is about the bravery and heroism of the soldiers, not about the charge itself. This poem really makes me think about all of the soldiers in history who have died fighting for something that they really believed in. Their honor and courage amazes me. It is one group of people in our history and present who I truly admire and am thankful.

Thomas Carlyle

I was glad to finally get to Thomas Carlyle to have a bit of a break from analyzing and reading so much poetry. My favorite reading selection of his was “The Irish Widow” from Gospel of Mammonism. The passage has a sad and somber mood yet is still filled with Carlyle’s satire. “The Irish Widow” tells a story of a poor Irish woman and her children trying to get help from charitable establishments. She becomes sick with typhus fever and no one reaches out to help her. She claims that she is their sister, yet they still will not help her. In consequence, she dies, and seventeen others are infected with typhus and die also. It takes her dying to prove that she was just like them even though she was poor.

In Carlyle’s time, the Irish were treated very poorly and inhuman as is shown in this work. He is displaying how society looked on this poorer class as less equal and less deserving. They were treated basically like they were not human. In making this work generic and not very specific, Carlyle is able to direct his message at all of society. In the work, the woman is just known as “a poor Irish Widow.” She is never given a name. Not naming her, the widow seems more degraded and is able to represent a large group of people who have been treated in this way. In addition, she seeks help from the “Charitable Establishments” of the “City.” Again, the place of charity is not specifically named and there is no specific city. These are not the important features of the story to focus on. What Carlyle wants the reader to focus on are the happenings of the story and the message the Physician gives in the end.

When the widow dies, a Physician speaks up, again no name is given for him as well, and asks, “Would it not have been economy to help this poor Widow? She took typhus-fever, and killed seventeen of you! – Very curious.” This message is a crucial point and I believe Carlyle is speaking through the Physician. Everyone needs to stop and realize that everyone is human, sister and brother, and it is our duty as humans to help one another. If everyone did that instead of being selfish then humanity would benefit. In the case of the fallen widow, if someone would have helped her, then seventeen others may have been spared as well. The Widow makes a point by saying as she is dying, “Ye must help me! I am your sister, bone of your bone; one God made us; ye must help me!” By saying sister, I think she means sister in humanity and in God, not a biological sister that most would think. She was made human by God just as they were and therefore she has just as much right to live as they.

Carlyle makes an interesting use of the word “impossible” in the passage. It first is used in response to the Widow’s cry out for help. The people around her say, “No, impossible; thou art no sister of ours.” The Widow is forced to prove her humanity and sisterhood by passing the typhus fever onto others. Carlyle mocks their use of “impossible” by repeating it again and again in the following paragraph. He states, “Till then all things are ‘impossible,’” “even that is ‘impossible’ for you,” “It is ‘impossible!’” and “universally declared to be ‘impossible.’” He claims that until the selfish people get a soul, everything will certainly be impossible. The only things they are worried about are their “padlocks” and “money-safes.” The last sentence of the passage is a powerful sentence. He points out, “Seventeen of you lying dead will not deny such proof that she was flesh of your flesh; and perhaps some of the living may lay it to heart.” To me, the passage is left with a small amount of hope that maybe some people that are still living will learn from the experience. Hopefully they will learn that whether poor, rich, Irish, or British, everyone is merely the same with the same flesh made by God.

Felicia Hemans

While reading Felicia Hemans’s poetry, I enjoyed reading and taking a closer look at her poem “The Homes of England.” I liked this poem because it was from a woman’s point of view and displayed a woman’s pride for the home and her country. England is such an old country and has so much history. In this poem, Hemans speaks of different homes that exist in England and different aspects of the home in each stanza. It is obvious that the speaker has much pride in her country and that pride starts in the home. The homes of England are its foundation and the heart of England.

In the first stanza, she begins describing the “stately Homes of England.” Here she is describing the more wealthy homes of England which contain a great amount of history. She starts out by exclaiming, “How beautiful they stand! Amidst their tall ancestral trees.” Its almost as if the homes are standing tall with pride for their country. In addition, they stand with the ancestral trees giving the feeling that they are old and have a great deal of heritage for which they can stand tall and be proud. In addition, in this stanza, images of nature are included with its description including, “deer,” “swan,” “sunny gleam,” and “stream.” These images display England’s deep connection with nature and the land of its country.

In the following stanzas, other aspects of the homes of England are celebrated. Hemans begins each stanza with a type of home. She exclaims, “The merry Homes of England!” “The blessed Homes of England!” “The Cottage Homes of England!” and “The free, fair Homes of England!” at the beginning of her stanzas. In the second stanza, she speaks of the “merry home.” The home being described, has a warm and loving mood. In this home the “woman’s voice flows forth in song” or “childhood’s tale is told.” The woman and children in the house are the heart of the home and bring it its warmth and love. In the next stanza, Hemans focuses on the “blessed Homes of England.” This stanza displays the importance of God in the home for England. She states, “How softly on their bowers is laid the holy quietness that breathes from Sabbath-hours!” The “cottage homes” are described at well in this poem. The small cottage homes of England are no less important in the pride of England than the stately homes are. The cottage homes are by the thousands and “smiling” at their wonderful country. Again, nature is included in this stanza showing the connection of it to all of England. The homes peep “thro’ glowing orchards” each with its “nook of leaves.” In addition, the poor are mentioned as being “fearless” in their homes. Even though they live in just a cottage, their home is their heart, and their home and heart is part of England. In the last stanza, the last two lines were very touching to me. Hemans writes speaking about the homes of England, “where first the child’s glad spirit loves its country and its God!” These lines seem to describe the heart of this poem to me. The home is first where someone learns to love their country and God. The home therefore is the central part of England’s pride. There is much history in the homes of England and they are part of its beauty and heritage.

John Keats

I loved the emotion of “La Belle Dame sans Mercy” that John Keats encompasses in it. The poem is a ballad about a knight that falls in love with a fairy and is left alone in despair in the end. It speaks to the reader about the power unrequited love can have on someone and the hopelessness it leaves. I really liked this painting that I found that it related to this poem well. With the fairy’s hair wrapped around the knight, it is apparent that the fairy has control of his heart. The knight is blind to the inevitable fate that his love for the fairy will not be returned.

The poem begins with the knight “alone and palely loitering” around a “wither’d lake.” The speaker in the first three stanzas is a fellow who has come upon him and wanders why he is in such a desolate place all alone. He describes the scene for the reader and helps to paint the initial image and mood for the reader. Around the knight, “the sedge is wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing.” In addition, “the squirrel’s granary is full, and the harvest’s done.” The time of year has made the place the knight is in desolate and so represents the mood of the knight. There is no apparent reason for the knight to be there at first glance so the fellow inquires, “what can ail thee, wretched wight?”

In the fourth stanza, the knight becomes the speaker for the remainder of the poem as he tells his story of his love for the fairy. He uses the fourth stanza to first describe this fairy he met. “Her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild.” (ln 15). All of these descriptions are descriptions of a typical fairy and should have given him warning that she would break his heart. He quickly fell for her though and “nothing else saw all day long.” She “sang a fairy’s song” to him and was able to gain her complete control and hold over the knight.

In the next stanzas, the knight tells of his time with the fairy and the deep love that grows within him for her. She gave him many signs to make him believe that she loved him in the same way that he loved her while they were together. He gave her gifts such as “garland,” “bracelets,” and “fragrant zone” and she responds positively to his gifts. He claims that, “She look’d at me as she did love, and made sweet moan.” To the knight, it seemed that the fairy did indeed love him and this just made him fall even more for her. After his gifts to her, she responded with her own gifts of “roots,” “honey wild,” and “manna dew.” Her gifts that she gave to him show her closeness with nature and even allude to the fact that she would always be with nature and can never be with him. She said in “language strange” that she loved him, but this is not in the same way that he loved her as he finds out later. His last night with her she took him to her elfin grot where he expressed his full love to her and “shut her wild eyes.” He was kissed to sleep and had his final dream. In the dream, he sees visions of “pale kings and princes” and “warriors” that were all “death-pale.” These all appeared to be previous lovers of the fairy and were warning him in his dream about the fairy. They cried, “La belle Dame sans mercy hat thee in thrall!” (ln 40). They were warning him that he was a slave to her and was oblivious to the love which she could not return to him. When the knight woke up on the “cold hill side,” he was alone and she was gone. At this point, in the final stanza, the poem goes in full circle and the speaker repeats the fellow’s first assessment of the situation. He states,

“And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing” (ln 45-48).

In this poem of unrequited love, the knight is so hurt because he believed from the beginning that the fairy loved him in the same way that he loved her. In the conclusion of the poem, there is no hope left that the knight will ever find the fairy again or that she will ever return to him. The knight is certain now that she had no intention of staying with him in the first place just as he is certain that he still loves her dearly. He is left with no hope that he will ever be happy again so he stays in the desolate place thinking about his fairy and his love for her.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

For this post, I’m going to focus on Percy Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” “Ozymandias” is one of his more well-known poems that he wrote as a sonnet in a sonnet writing contest about a statue. This poem is interesting in the way that it mixes politics and art in Shelley’s poetic style. The poem describes a statue in the poem of Ozymandias, which is the Greek name for Ramses II, the man thought to be the pharaoh of Exodus whom Moses challenged. In the poem, the only things left of the statue are the feet and the head half sunk in the sand next to them. The deteriorated statue that was once a great monument of the king is described as being in ruins. The state of the statue can be compared to the reputation of the king that was once great, but now lies in ruins and is forgotten.

The speaker is telling a story in the poem that he heard from a traveler from an “antique land.” In this poem, instead of a great and lasting king that the pharaoh expected to be, he is merely a diminished ancient king heard from a random traveler. The statue is described on line 2 as “two vast and trunkless of stone” and a half sunk “shattered visage” conveying to the reader its diminished state. Obviously the statue must have at one point been imposing and grand. The half sunk head in the ground illustrates Ozymandias’s sinking status in the present world. The face of the statue has a “wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command” conveying the king’s cold yet strong and commanding nature. This conveys that the sculptor must have known his passions well. The speaker also mentions Ozymandias’s “hand that mocked them” and “heart that fed” referring to the way Ozymandias treated his people. What was interesting in this poem and had me confused at first was the part where the speaker mentions “the heart that fed” which seems to oppose Ozymandias’s cold nature portrayed in the rest of the poem. Even though Ozymandias was cold, he was able to keep power over his people and give them what they needed. On the pedestal, it eerily states, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” This king seemed to have a great amount of pride in his name and in his works. He believed that all rival kings would look at his great works and despair. Ironically though, now nothing is left of his name and works, just as there is nothing really left of the statue. “Nothing beside remains” (ln 12). All that is left around the statue are the “lone and level sands [that] stretch far away” (ln 14). The poem ends in a depressing and empty mood. Even though Ozymandias was a mighty and powerful ruler, the poem displayed that nothing can last forever. Ozymandias thought that his reign would last forever, but as in the statue that was once massive and mighty, it faded and crumbled away.