Friday, October 9, 2009
Robert Browning--Take One
What strikes you as distinctive about the poems by Robert Browning that we have read so far? How are they like or unlike the rest of the Victorian poetry--take your pick here--that we have read thus far? In this response you can refer to things like subject, tone, poetic feeling, etc.
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Personally I don't enjoy reading blank verse that much. I like Browning's poem "My Last Duchess", but the other two we've read by him were flat to me. I found it difficult to get into his poem about Andrea and his coquettish wife Lucrezia because of its length. To me poetry is all about brevity, and the expression of ideas through new, concise, and abstract forms. I didn't see that with Browning. E.B.B. is much more effective I think, in communicating messages through these terms. Her imagery and rhyme scheme in the "Cry of the Children", and the way she expresses her love in her sonnets captures that idea of brevity and abstract imagery that makes poetry so unique and effective. Her husband however, leaves me wanting more.
ReplyDeleteThe latest two poems by Robert Browning: “Andrea del Sarto,” and “Two in the Campagna,” are about personal relationships, like several other poems we have read, but they also seem impressionistic to me. They seem to discuss the protagonists’ inner subjective emotions and thoughts about the relationship. Two in the Campagna seems to want to suggest an emotion or something that cannot be described any other way. Andrea del Sarto seems to discuss a man’s inner mental musings on his art and his relationship with his wife, rather than specify the limits or circumstances of their relationship. Or at least that’s how it seems to me. I found this poem difficult to understand. But Procter’s “Philip and Mildred,” is more specific about the dynamics of the relationship, although there is some description of emotions here as well. All three have a melancholy mood to them, like the relationships in these poems were intact, and there was an expectation that they would continue, but there was sadness about them at the same time, each for a different reason. Two in the Campagna seemed to talk about how time, and emotion is fleeting (maybe?), Andrea del Sarto suggested that the artist has a conflict between his relationship and his art – that his art suffers as a result of his relationship, and maybe vice versa (?) but he would not (or could not) give up either one. Then with Philip and Mildred, it seemed like they had pledged to marry, but then Philip went off to the city, and was gone for some time. In the meantime, I think both Philip and Mildred changed, or grew. The poem seems to explore their emotions about the way each of them viewed the relationship in that it was not satisfactory because they were no longer the same people they were.
ReplyDeleteMost of the other poems we read, I think were more clear cut: for example “My Last Duchess” was pretty straightforward. The duke, although evil (?), is pretty easy to understand. In “Lord Walter’s Wife,” there is bantering, and maybe sort of flirting (?), but the emotion or sentiment is clear. The protagonists’ in these poems don’t explore their emotions in a subjective way.
Robert Browning tends to favor enjambed lines. I personally dislike this because my eyes naturally try to end the line where it breaks but Browning disrupts the rhythm here and forces me to keep reading. Enjambed lines do not allow the poem to “flow.” I guess it is on purpose but it is annoying! The only poem I allow Browning to get away with using enjambed lines is “My Last Duchess.” I don’t know why, but I don’t have to struggle as much with that poem as I had to with “Andrea del Sarto” and “Two in the Campagna.” I had to read that last one twice just so I could understand what was going on.
ReplyDeleteRobert Browning also seems to stick to dramatic monologue. I can excuse this much easier than I can enjambed lines, but half the time I’m wondering “who the heck is he talking to?” Browning likes to keep the reader guessing until the last possible moment when we finally understand who his audience is. In “My Last Duchess,” we aren’t sure who the narrator is addressing until the end where he mentions his current plans to wed again.
Browning also seems to ramble on about the darker, more depressing things in life. “My Last Duchess” involved an implied story of murder and jealousy; “Two in the Campagna” suggests that one cannot truly grasp what one is yearning for, like love; “Andrea del Sarto” is the story of a man who never gains the fame that he suspects that he deserves for his art and whose wife has a lover. In each of the poems, the narrator seems to accept his miserable lot so I don’t know whether to be sympathetic or apathetic. I mean, come on, we could use a little happiness every now and then! At least Elizabeth Barrett Browning approached common standards of society that needed to be investigated. Her poems seemed to have purpose whereas Robert Browning makes me think of an unhappy soul who sat in his corner all day writing about all the unfairness of life.
Conner,
ReplyDeleteAt least I'm not the only one! I agree that "My Last Duchess" was easier to read and understand but I also have to admit that Robert Browning's other poems were not to my taste. Perhaps there was some imagery and description in those poems but they weren't great visual aids. I just didn't get the same kind of visual detail that I could with EBB's poems. Oh and I also find it interesting that we both mentioned Mrs. Browning in contrast to Mr. Browning.
I actually enjoy Robert Browning more than EBB’s and most of the other poets we
ReplyDeletehave studied. I believe his poems have a more modern sound than the other Victorian poets. Also, Browning's poems are less political many of the others', especially EBB's. He makes statements, but they are less straightforward and controversial. You have to dig deeper to see what he is trying to say, which is an aspect of poetry that I love. Sometimes it’s good to put it right out there and make it “in your face” but other times it’s good to have metaphors and progression so that the reader is guessing until the end. When I read poetry I try to detangle the similes, metaphors, and hidden meanings to try to find what the author is trying to tell his reader. I guess this is why I like Browning better because the other poets seem just give you the topic from the start and blatantly. I prefer the more subtle approach.
Robert Browning, first of all, writes in blank verse, which to me, makes it easier to read. He also presents a different view of women, almost making them manipulative in some poems, but also offering up the tragic truth that they fall victim to horrible marriages that they have no way out of.
ReplyDeleteThis is different from much of Victorian poetry because it is not political. Robert Browning poems are tragically romantic in that they are a social commentary about the relationships of husband and wife. The way I see his poetry is that it has two views: Women fall victim to their disappointed husbands, and women are vindictive and find ways to manipulate men and still do what makes them happy. His poem "My Last Duchess" tells of a woman who was happy in her relationship with her husband, but also found comfort in the arms of other men, and fell victim to her jealous husband, and then speaks of an arranged marriage to this maniacal husband. "The Faultless Painter" and "Two in Campagna" are two Robert Browning poems also speaking of how women disappointed men in their personal relationships. This is a rather negative view towards women and how they abuse men, even though the men in the poems are abusing the women they are chastising.
Connor, I agree with you. I believe poetry should be brief and express its point eloquently and briefly. It is very difficult for me to read poetry that is so long winded and cannot get to the point. I, however, thought "Cry of the Children" was also too long, but I agree that it makes an excellent point. The one thing I do like about Robert Browning is that he is ironic as he expresses two sides of emotional relationships.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed Robert Browning's poems as far as the subject matter but not his style of writing. His style makes for a very confusing pattern. As I tried to read the poem, my interpretation got lost. I had to read each poem many times before I could make some sense as to his message. Now, the subject matter is different. Coming out of Dickens' portrayal of the Victorian era, without much hope for women, Browning seems to give women a different perspective and place. In each of his poems it seems that the women do hold some "position" in equal to the men, whether it is taunting them through a portrait and controlling their thoughts, having the hypocrisy of their ways exposed, giving the women a sense of knowing what part of themselves they lose when they marry and how each woman like in "Two in the Campagna" can refuse spiritual togetherness although a physical connection can be made. It is my opinion that Browning gives readers a look into how women can and do begin to separate themselves from the oppression men once held them to.
ReplyDeleteIn response to waggoner 87
ReplyDelete"When I read poetry I try to detangle the similes, metaphors, and hidden meanings to try to find what the author is trying to tell his reader. I guess this is why I like Browning better because the other poets seem just give you the topic from the start and blatantly. I prefer the more subtle approach."
I totally agree with your statement! Having to seek the message is much more fun and interesting than having a writer tell you up front what the message is.
Although I did not like Robert Brownings writing-style, mechanics, I do like his use of imagery and metaphors to reveal his "hidden messages!"
Reply to Connor:
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't care much for blank verse. I also agree that poetry should be brief. Something else that is different from these poems than the earlier ones (this is obvious), that now the poems are in the realm of marriage and intimate relationships. Maybe that is part of the difficulty of understanding them, I don't know. Earlier, we were reading social criticism. It seems like the social criticism was easier to read and understand. I really don't care for the rambling quality in Browning's poems - at least the latest few.
What strikes me as a distinctive feature in a few of Robert Browning's poems is the idea that he focuses on the relationships between men and women. These relationships are broken down into three categories: the first, jealousy which leads to murder in "My Last Duchess," the second, a husband yearning for love and support from his wife who has run off with her lover in " Andrea del Sarto," and in the third, the nature of love shared between a man and woman in the poem "Two in the Campagna."
ReplyDeleteIn comparison the other poems we have read focused on social issues that appeared during that time. For example, slavery and children working. The tone of some of the poems are sad because they sometimes end in death or misfortune.
On a personal note I really liked reading the poem "Andrea del Sarto" I thought it was very true as to what occurs in most relationships today. I also agree that in order for us to understand poetry during the Victorian era we would have had to been born during that time and then maybe we could relate even more to what we have read which is why we prefer it to be brief as well as understandable.
ReplyDelete