ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Sonnets from the Portuguese. The forty-four sonnets composing this sequence record the growth of the love of Elizabeth Barrett for Robert Browning. The name she gave the series was suggested by her husband's calling her his little Portuguese, and was intended to veil somewhat the autobiographic nature of the poems. XXII. Study the management of the pauses. Is the thought ever obscure? XLII. What qualities entitle this to rank as one of the greatest sonnets in English? What word serves as a keynote? A Musical Instrument. selected? Is the metrical form here employed happily Why is the rhyme order a good one? What phrases serve as a refrain ? Express in your own words the thought as summarized in the last stanza. Is it true? Is there a distinctly feminine note in these poems of Mrs. Browning's? ROBERT BROWNING Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister. 10. salve tibi, a Latin form of greeting. 14. oak-galls. What are gall-nuts, and for what used? 39. Arian. What was the so-called Arian heresy? 49. text in Galatians. See Gal. v. 19-21. 56. Manichee. What did the Manichees believe? 60. Belial. See Paradise Lost, I, 489-505 71-72. Plena gratiâ, etc. Phrases from Latin prayers. How does the poem illustrate, by its figures, by its diction, and by its general form, Browning's defiance of the prevailing theories of poetic art? Do any of the comparisons seem forced or fantastic? What traits does the speaker reveal in himself? Are these traits inconsistent with the practice of such formal piety as he professes? Why is the speaker made to mention the kind of paper and the type of the scrofulous French novel'? How has Browning contrived to suggest the kindness and simplicity of Brother Lawrence? Does Browning's own personality anywhere obtrude upon the poem? My Last Duchess. 3. Now. What gesture is implied? 6. Fra Pandolph and Claus of Innsbruck (56) are imaginary personages. Note the management of pauses, e.g. 16-17, and the unexpected rhymes. 47. As if alive. Returning to what previous phrase? 53. Nay, etc. What action is here suggested, and why? Compare with the close of Hamlet, I, v. To whom is the Duke speaking, and under what circumstances? What are the advantages, and what the disadvantages, of casting the poem in the form of a dramatic monologue? Would it probably have been clearer and stronger if put in dialogue form? Of which character, the Duke or his Duchess, do we learn the more? Do any phrases summarize either of these characters? Of what things is he proud? Is he selfish? What is his complaint against his former wife? What does he intimate that he shall expect of his new wife? In judging the character of the Duchess, we must remember that we see her only through her husband's eyes. 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.' What is the meaning of "Childe"? Note carefully the different ways in which extreme weariness is brought out in the beginning of the poem. 22. obstreperous. Meaning? 55 ff. How does the speaker's mental attitude as symbolized in this stanza differ from that at the beginning of the poem? Where do we find the next change in surroundings, and how do they differ from the scene here portrayed? 91. Cuthbert and Giles (97) are members of an imaginary band. 91-102. What is the purpose of these two stanzas? Tell the story of the poem. What different means are employed for giving us the setting and the story of the quest? What do you think the Dark Tower symbolizes? Discuss Browning's diction in this poem. What unusual words has he here employed? Point out some animated, unpoetic, and grotesque words. What passages show the greatest vigor? Select lines marked by delicacy of touch. What verse form is here used? Why is it a better form for such a poem than blank verse would be? In what sense may we say that the knight has gained a victory, whatever may be the outcome of the conflict? Andrea del Sarto. 29. my everybody's moon. Because Andrea's wife sat as his model for his Madonnas. 93. Morello's, the highest of the spurs of the Apennines to the north of Florence. — Corson's note. 105. The Urbinate, Raphael. 106. Vasari, Giorgio Vasari, a pupil of Andrea del Sarto. 120. What interruption of the monologue occurs here? What at 220? 130. Agnolo, Michael Angelo. Who was he? 146. For fear, etc. Why was he afraid? 150. Fontainebleau. The famous palace thirty-seven miles from Paris, built by Francis I, who employed Andrea del Sarto to decorate it. 263. Leonard, Leonardo da Vinci. What is his most famous picture? Read Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, translated by Mrs. Jonathan Foster, London, 1850, Vol. III, pp. 204– 207, and show how Browning has painted a subjective portrait from the suggestions furnished by Vasari. What is the difference between a monologue and a soliloquy such as we have in A Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister? Which is the more dramatic? How do the first lines strike the keynote for the whole monologue? What other lines (e.g. 35) suggest the setting and also the emotional atmosphere of the poem? What ethical idea is at the basis of the monologue? Does Andrea appeal more or less to our sympathies because he realizes his failure? By what particular weakness is that failure caused? Which is the more vividly revealed — the speaker in Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister or Andrea del Sarto? Judging from this monologue, what should you say were Browning's ideals of art? Note especially line 97. An interesting comparison may be made with Ruskin's views, as stated in Queen of the Air, ¶ 106. How is Browning's buoyant optimism shown in this 'twilight piece'? Hervé Riel. This poem appeared in the Cornhill Magazine for March, 1871. The 100 that Browning received for it, he contributed to the ENG. POEMS - 26 fund then being raised to buy food for the people of Paris after the siege by the Germans in 1870-1871. The facts narrated in the story are historical except in one particular. Instead of asking for a single holiday, Hervé Riel requested a complete release from naval service. 5. Rance, the river Rance. 21. St. Malo is famous for its high tides. Ordinary tides rise from twenty-three to twenty-eight feet; and spring tides forty-eight feet above low-water mark. 30. Plymouth Sound. Why mentioned? How far away? 43. Tourville, the French admiral. 44. Croisickese, native of St. Croisic. 46. Maluins, dwellers in St. Malo. 49. Grève, the ‘strand,' sandy shore. disembogues. Meaning? 92. rampired Solidor, a feudal fort, now used as barracks. 120. but a run, the distance is about a hundred miles. 124. Belle Aurore, beautiful dawn. 129. head, figurehead. — Rolfe's note. How is Browning's interest in dramatic crises of character development illustrated here? What devices does Browning employ for capturing and holding the reader's interest? Does he make use of suspense? surprise? Are there vivid contrasts of emotional tone? How does the poem illustrate Browning's limitations as a dramatic poet? Do the words of any of the speakers seem inappropriate to men in their station? Do they often employ the inverted order of Are they too fluent? words? How is the spirited effect of the poem produced? Is the narrative rapid? condensed? sun. Browning's verse is said to have a tonic effect, like that of wind and Show that Browning regarded little else besides the human soul as worth study, and that poetry, in the sense of verbal music, was to him only a subordinate aim. Was he more interested in tracing the development of character, or in revealing, through action at crucial moments, character already formed? Which one of Browning's poems studied contains the noblest basic idea? To what is the obscurity of Browning's poetry chiefly due? Is it due mainly to the fact that he presents only dramatic crises of character, to the condensation of the expression, to the ruggedness of the verse, or to the monologue form in which the poems are frequently cast? ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH Where lies the Land? How is a notable unity of form and tone here secured? Say not the Struggle Nought Availeth. Compare the thought with that of Longfellow's A Psalm of Life. Are there any slight imperfections in the poem? What are the resemblances and what the differences between the thought of this poem and that of the former? pronounced melody? Should you call these poems 'pagan'? MATTHEW ARNOLD Which has the more Shakespeare. Has Arnold here emphasized the qualities we commonly associate with Shakespeare? Should you imagine Arnold would choose Shakespeare as his ideal man? With this sonnet contrast that by Longfellow on Shakespeare. Dover Beach. 14. This suggests what line in Shelley's Skylark? 15-20. Sophocles. Antigone, 11. 582 ff. 'Happy are those whose life tastes not of trouble. To all whose home is shaken by the gods, for them no kind of curse is wanting, as it creeps on from generation to generation; even as when the swell comes coursing o'er the darkling deep, sped by storm blasts, that blow across the sea from Thrace, it rolls the swart sand from the depths, and the bluff headlands moan and roar in the storm.'- Coleridge's translation. What is the setting (time, place, and surroundings) of this poem ? Into what two parts does the poem naturally divide itself? Indicate the relation of the different stanzas. Point out lines where the movement is especially fine. Look up in some history of English literature Arnold's relation to the religious thought of his time. Show how this poem is a typical expression of his belief. |