Meeting
at Night (Robert
Browning)
The grey sea and the long black land;
And the yellow half-moon large and low;
And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.
Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, through its joys and fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!
Published in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, 1845,
Robert
Browning
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/286.html
According
to the title of the poem, we can interpret its meaning in relation with the
poem. The first impression I have had only reading the title “meeting at
night” is related to an encounter. We don’t know if this encounter is
between lovers or it is a commercial one, but the fact that it takes place
at night can lead us to the idea that something wrong is going to happen.
As we know, darkness is a symbol of corruption, danger, death but on the other
hand when everything is dark and none can see, people use to do things which
are considered shameful.
However,
if we read the poem, we realize that the first impression is closer to the
main idea of the poem, although now, we are able to give a more detailed meaning.
In the last verse “the two hearts beating each to each”, it shows
that the meeting is between lovers.
In
my opinion, the author narrates a story about himself. He is describing a
succession of facts, according to his own experiences. We don’t know exactly
who the author is, but we can find the use of the 1st personal
pronoun “I gain the cove with pushing prow”, so
we can suppose that it is R. Browning the author, it is autobiographical.
However, we know who the addressee of the poem is because the author makes
that the readers take part in the poem, telling us his experiences.
The
poet believes that the lovers recognize each other at first sight (Victorian
Web, authority). Love is something that is implied in our life and it comes
when you don’t expect it. This idea can be found in the poem, because the
author takes the reader through a journey where at certain time he finds his
lover “Three fields to cross till a farm appears, And a voice less loud, Than the two hearts beating each
to each!”
When
Robert Browning was a child, he used to read Shelley’s work and we can see
through his poem the influence of romanticism. Robert Browning is using the
natural elements to express his “love journey”. He is comparing his feelings
with sea elements “startled little waves that leap in fiery ringlets from
their sleep”. The author is using an allegory “sea- love” we can interpret
through the first stanza and the three first verses of the second stanza that
the love has good moments when everything stay calm. However, there are also
bad moments where you think everything in your relationship is going to have
an end, because there are a lot of problems.
If
we read Robert Browning’s biography, we realize
that his relation with Elisabeth Barrett started in 1845, (the year when this
poem was published). In his biography, we can find an important detail about
his personal life. When they started their relationship, they found several
problems: one was that her father, who had forbidden all 12 of his sons and
daughters to get married, was opposed to that relationship, as a consequence
of this they conducted a secret courtship away from the eyes of her father
and the second one was that they lived in different places; Robert lived
in London and Elisabeth in Florence. However, despite of the distance that
separated them, they maintained a correspondence. In 1846 they got married
in secret. (Kirjasto & Victorianweb)
When
Elisabeth Browning published Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), there
was great expectation, because these sonnets are the love letters that Robert
and she wrote during their engagement. This publication was revolutionary,
all the citizens wanted to know more about their life. They became important
through these publications.
This
marriage was not seen with good eyes by the society because in those times,
the marriage must be between members of the same social class. In addition
to this, the fact, that Elisabeth suffered a nervous disaster created doubts.
The society thought that this problem could hinder that they would have had
descendants. As we know, people got married in order to have children and
it didn’t matter if the marriage was arranged. It seems like the society didn’t
understand that love is more important than having a lot of money. The middle
social classes got married between them in order to maintain their reputation
(Vicente Fores)
So,
if we make a close reading, we realize that the stanzas start at some point
where everything is dark but finally we find the light, the solution to this
problem. “they grey sea and the long black land”,” As I gain the cove with
pushing prow, and quench its speed in the slushy sand” “A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch” “And blue spurt of a lighted match” “And a voice less loud, thro'
its joys and fears”, Than the two hearts beating each to each!” Through these verses, we find the relations between the father
and the lovers. It is a continuous fight, where finally the love wins and
No matter the distance, the problems that you can find, the social class.
If you love someone, you make all that is possible to be with her/him.
In
my opinion, the author seems happy. Happiness is the feeling that invades
the author’s heart, because he has succeeded in what he wanted: to be with
his lover. We also find the author’s ambition, because we can see how they
have overcome the bad moments and try to be happy although it costs to leave
everything he has. In this case, R. Browning moved to
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/robert_browning 15.01.06
-http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/rbov.html
13.01.06
14.01.06
15.01.06
- http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/rbbio.html
Ed:
Glenn Everett, Associate Professor of English,
-http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/browning.htm
14.01.06
- http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ebrownin.htm 17.01.06
-
Tutoria con Vicente Fores
17.01.06