Robert Browning (1812-

1889)A presentation by:

Huda QashqaryNouf Al- Adwanei

The poet Robert Browning had a flair for the dramatic. Perhaps more than any other nineteenth-century writer, he was able to fuse the aesthetics of drama and poetry into a truly theatrical verse .

In fact, some of his most famous poems (“Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess”) are structured like dramatic monologues, and storytelling was also an integral part of Brownian's poetry, as evidenced by his verse adaptations of classic tales such as The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Although his reputation swung between popularity and obscurity during his lifetime, his works are now considered classics and have influenced writers as diverse as T. S. Eliot and Stephen King.

Essential Facts

1 -Robert Browning was married to the poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who wrote the famous sonnet beginning, “How

do I love thee? Let me count the ways”.

2 -Although a British citizen, Browning spent nearly a fourth of his life (and writing career) abroad in Italy. Its culture was incredibly influential upon his work. “Italy was my university,” he would often say.

3-most popular work during his lifetime was the dramatic poem The Ring and the Book, which comprises an astonishing 20,000 lines.

4-Browning died on the same day that Asolando, his final volume of verse, was published—December12, 1889.

5 -Though Browning has influenced countless poets in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, perhaps his most obscure connection is to the film remake of Get Carter, starring Sylvester Stallone.The movie opens with a quote from Browning\'s The Ring and the Book.

Life in a LoveA poem by Robert Browning 

Escape me?NeverBeloved!While I am I, and you are you,So long as the world contains us both,Me the loving and you the loth,While the one eludes, must the other pursue.My life is a fault at last, I fear:It seems too much like a fate, indeed!Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.But what if I fail of my purpose here? It is but to keep the nerves at strain,To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,And baffled, get up to begin again,So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.While, look but once from your farthest bound,At me so deep in the dust and dark,No sooner the old hope drops to groundThan a new one, straight to the selfsame mark,I shape meEverRemoved!

In this poem, the tones of adoration and rejection reflect how the narrator feels about the woman he loves. The narrator is absolutely willing to do anything for their love, or demonstrate just how much he loves her. The woman, however, does not seem to have a mutual feeling about their relationship. He sees loving her as a duty to keep her happy. If he does not do so, he would not see his life as being fulfilled. The man will try his hardest to do anything her heart desires. It is as if he is like a jester that is constantly trying to entertain or humor the king to keep his job. “While I am I, and you are you/ So long as the world contains us both…” As long as they are both together, he will prevent them from ever being apart. “It is but to keep the nerves at strain,/ To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,/ And, baffled, get up and begin again,—” He will do whatever it takes to keep her smiling and not unhappy.