The article, Best Poems of Robert Browning, will analyze Browning’s remarkable poetic pieces. Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright who lived between 1812 and 1889. He is famous for his dramatic monologues, his emotionally charged poems, and his epic poem The Ring and the Book. Critics often praise his poetry, with The Ring and the Book ranked by T. S. Eliot as one of the top ten best long poems in English literature. Let’s have a look on his worldly acclaimed poems.
Pippa Passes
This poem is not only a beautiful example of Browning’s dramatic monologues, but also one of his most religious poems. The poem is an allegory for a young woman’s life and her journey to find her way in her faith. The poem follows Pippa as she enters and exits different churches, questioning whether or not their church was right for her. She eventually finds peace at a final church service, where she confesses that she has found what she has been looking for all along: God.
However, once she leaves to go on with her life outside of religion, it is then revealed that Pippa never actually existed at all. Her thoughts were merely being conveyed through conversations within other people’s minds. In fact, you may even recognize some of these same ideas from William Blake’s Jerusalem.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is another masterpiece by Robert Browning. This poem describes a sinister rat-catcher who takes over a town by charming away all of its children, only to be foiled when he falls out of favor with his employers. The tale is based on an actual event that occurred in 1284 in Hamelin, Germany. Folklore has it that the townspeople had been plagued by rats. Therefore, they made a pact with an unidentified piper who promised to rid them of their vermin problem in exchange for 100 guilders (or 1 guilder for every rat).
To seal their deal, he led them down a riverbank and instructed them to follow him as he played his pipe. The townsfolk happily paid up until just before dawn when they realized none of their children were following them home. Sure enough, when they returned to Hamelin in search of their missing offspring, they get amazed. Surprisingly, they found an empty town and a legend that would spread throughout Europe centuries later.
It’s said that if you go past the site where Pied Piper’s statue once stood, you can still hear music coming from underground. No one knows whether there was ever actually a Pied Piper or whether he truly lived up to his end of the bargain, one thing is certain: children love stories about creepy things—and there are few stories creepier than Robert Browning’s poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix
Robert Browning’s poem How They Brought The Good News From Ghent to Aix is a narrative piece. The poem is about an old lady and her granddaughter discuss her recent trip to see her son. The grandmother explains that she has been outside of town. She describes her journey to a nice little place with a view of fields and crops.
She goes on to talk about people they met while they were there, one of whom was very interesting. He had a woolly brown beard, who told them he was on his way to Aix. Also, he asked if they could deliver some news from Ghent for him. He had received word that his sons were dead and he would be coming home soon. Thus, it is a tale of heroism and memory. It is a tale of a soldier takes a valiant ride to carry critical messages between two towns.
My Last Duchess
My Last Duchess brought unparalleled fame and appreciation for the author. This poem is not only adored globally, but has also added into many syllabus across the globe. The poem introduces us to royal characters; the Duke of Ferrara uses painting of his formal mistress as a conversational piece. Browning uses artistic piece as a mode to represent the value of woman in the Duke’s life. The poem begins with the news of the Duke’s new marriage. However, before getting into new bond, the Duke introduces his audience with his late wife. Ironically, he did not talk about her good qualities; instead, he focuses on her short comings.
Throughout the poem, he talks about her appearence as well as her character as a Duchess and in particular as a wife. He speaks how she did something which he did not approve of and her rebellious behavior displease him. Finally, after her death, the Duke has decided to move forward in life.
Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister
The poem Soliloquy of Spanish Cloister is about a nun who contemplates suicide as she watches children playing outside. The woman knows that she cannot make her own choices. She also knows that one day she will have to to give up her independence. She contrasts these children to herself, and laments how hard it is for her not to be able to enjoy life like they do. The nun is only alive because other people want her dead.
When all seems lost, however, an old man appears beside her. He describes what he sees out in nature; it is much better than what she sees in nature through her barred window. The scene reminds him of his own childhood when he was free to explore and be happy. This time outside his window brings him such joy that he does not care if he dies in order to experience such freedom again; his whole outlook on life has changed just from experiencing so much joy from being out in nature again once more after all those years locked away inside with nothing but memories to sustain him.
Andrea Del Sarto
If you’re feeling a little stuck in your career, take inspiration from Andrea del Sarto—the Renaissance-era artist and subject of one of Robert Browning’s most famous poems. Rather than working on traditional frescoes (which dried slowly), Andrea attempted to work on a quicker form of painting known as tempera, which he also experimented with.
Although his experiments were ultimately unsuccessful, he refused to accept defeat; despite knowing that he was an untalented painter, del Sarto didn’t give up until he perfected tempera painting. Take heart, everyone who has ever tried something difficult and failed—you could be more successful than you think!
The Lost Leader
If you’re a fan of Howl or My Last Duchess, you should know that Robert Browning is a poet of complex perspectives and narrative structure. Many of his poems look at a single moment from multiple viewpoints, and it’s often hard to tell whether characters are good or bad (though we can certainly take an educated guess). However, in The Lost Leader, all of these issues come together beautifully. However, the confusion about who’s to blame for war, and who deserves admiration, shows how various political leaders jockey for position within their own parties. It’s one of Browning’s most intricate poetic feats—and most importantly, one that leaves you wanting more.
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