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CelticWarlord
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Robert Browning (1812 – 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. His poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings. Browning’s early career began promisingly, but collapsed. The long poems Pauline and Paracelsus received some acclaim, but in 1840 the difficult Sordello , which was seen as wilfully obscure, brought his poetry into disrepute. His reputation took more than a decade to recover, during which time he moved away from his early period and developed a more personal style. In 1846, Browning married the older poet Elizabeth Barrett, and went to live in Italy. By the time of her death in 1861, he had published the crucial collection Men and Women . He continued to write prolifically, but his reputation today rests largely on the poetry he wrote in this middle period.
“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!”
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?”
“Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character”
“What’s the earth
With all its art, verse, music, worth —
Compared with love, found, gained, and kept?”
“Our interest’s on the dangerous edge of things. The honest thief, the tender murderer, the superstitious atheist.”
“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 and begin again.”
“Have you found your life distasteful?
My life did and does smack sweet.
Was your youth of pleasure wasteful?
Mine I save and hold complete.
Do your joys with age diminish?
When mine fail me, I’ll complain.
Must in death your daylight finish?
My sun sets to rise again.”
Code:
- - - - - - -“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?”
“Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character”
“What’s the earth
With all its art, verse, music, worth —
Compared with love, found, gained, and kept?”
“Our interest’s on the dangerous edge of things. The honest thief, the tender murderer, the superstitious atheist.”
“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 and begin again.”
“Have you found your life distasteful?
My life did and does smack sweet.
Was your youth of pleasure wasteful?
Mine I save and hold complete.
Do your joys with age diminish?
When mine fail me, I’ll complain.
Must in death your daylight finish?
My sun sets to rise again.”