“Porphyria’s lover”
by Robert Browning
PORPHYRIA’S
LOVER
The rain set early in tonight,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm-tops down for spite,
And did its worst to vex the lake:
I listened with heart fit to break.
When glided in Porphyria; straight
She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up, and all the cottage warm;
Which done, she rose, and from her form
Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl,
And laid her soiled gloves by, untied
Her hat and let the damp hair fall,
And, last, she sat down by my side
And called me. When no voice replied,
She put my arm about her waist,
And made her smooth white shoulder bare,
And all her yellow hair displaced,
And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,
And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair,
Murmuring how she loved me — she
Too weak, for all her heart's endeavor,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me forever.
But passion sometimes would prevail,
Nor could tonight's gay feast restrain
A sudden thought of one so pale
For love of her, and all in vain:
So, she was come through wind and rain.
Be sure I looked up at her eyes
Happy and proud; at last l knew
Porphyria worshiped me: surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string l wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.
As a shut bud that holds a bee,
I warily oped her lids: again
Laughed the blue eyes without a stain.
And l untightened next the tress
About her neck; her cheek once more
Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss:
I propped her head up as before,
Only, this time my shoulder bore
Her head, which droops upon it still:
The smiling rosy little head,
So glad it has its utmost will,
That all it scorned at once is fled,
And I, its love, am gained instead!
Porphyria's love: she guessed not how
Her darling one wish would be heard.
And thus we sit together now,
And all night long we have not stirred,
And yet God has not said aword!
1836, 1842
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/porphyria.html
COMMENTARY
First of all, this commentary is going to focus on one
of the most important works by Robert Browning; “Porphyria’s
lover” which is a dramatic monologue. This is a poem in which only one
person speaks, but the presence of another person is felt. This poem belongs to
the Victorian period, since it focuses on the situation of women and men in
that time.
“Porphyria’s lover” seems on the
surface to be about a man that is in love with a woman and he kills her because
he does not want to suffer. By means of the title of the poem,
“Porphyria’s lover”, the reader knows that it is going to be
about a love story.
During the course of the poem we can see that it has a
regular rhyme scheme- ABABB- but the informal phrasing that the poem follows
(without stanzas) does not emphasize the rhyme, so that we seem to be hearing
the spontaneous thoughts of the speaker.
As I said some lines before, this is a dramatic
monologue and I think that this poem requires several readings before it
becomes clear. Here, the lover describes how he waited, lonely, for Porphyria
to visit him. She came in, having felt a “gay feast” (line 27) to
be with him, tended his fire, and sat next to him with sweet affection. As they
sat together by the fire, the lover was overwhelmed with pride and pleasure
that she loved him. He wanted the moment to never end.
In sudden madness, he decided to kill Porphyria and
thus to keep her forever, he strangles her. He strangles her with her own long,
blond hair, assuring himself that she wanted to die at that moment and that he
did no really hurt her. He thought that she had no pains (lines 41-42).
As the poem ends, the reader realizes with a shock
that the lover is still sitting with the head of the dead Porphyria propped on
his shoulder, waiting to see what God will do to him now.
When I started reading the poem I understood that the
introducing lines were referring to the weather, but then, after several readings,
I could see that the storm that the speaker was referring to symbolize the
similar storm of thoughts which is running its course through the
narrator’s mind.
In the poem, when the lover is kissing her on her
still-warm cheek, it indicates the narrator’s desire to posses her love.
The narrator tells himself that this was her wish, and that she is happier for
the lack of the life he imagined her to scorn –“ The smiling rosy
little head,/ So glad it has its utmost will,/ That all it scorned at once is
fled,/ And I, its love, am gained instead!/ (lines 52-55).
When the man takes her “yellow hair” (line 39) and winds it
around her neck three times, strangling her, I think, it indicates men
strangling womankind when they attempt to assert their independence.
The poem itself centres on a young woman, Porphyria,
and a man, the narrator, it appears she adores. But, what did happen in that
period to make Robert Browning write this poem?, this poem reflects the
Victorian context in an indirect way. The poem shows the real situation of the
woman. They were seen as the most important part of the family, they had to
dedicate all their time to their family. The women did not have freedom to do
the things and did not have the same rights that men had. “They could not
vote or sue or even own property. Also, they were seen as pure and clean.
Because of this view, their bodies were seen as temples which should not be
adorned with makeup nor should it be used for such pleasurable things as sex.
The role of women was to have children and tend to the house. They could not
hold jobs unless it was that as a teacher nor were they allowed to have their
own checking accounts or savings accounts. In the end, they were to be treated
as saints, but saints that had no legal rights”. (Victorian
Era-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
Another important thing is the social classes. They
could not be with people of different social classes. And I think that this is
what happens in the poem. The woman, Porphyria, belongs to a high class and she
can not be with him since he belongs to a lower class. These are the societal
strictures of that period. The sexuality, showed when Porphyria begins to take
off her wet clothing, is another important theme in that period. The violence
and madness also appear in the poem and it becomes part of every day life. The
separation of social classes and the men’s power are shown during the
course of this poem. She can not stay with him and he can kill her.
“Obedience was all that was required of them”. (Victorian
Era-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
After the Industrial Revolution many reforms appeared
that favoured women’s situation. Women incorporated in the labour world,
they have more rights and now they depend on themselves. Now they have more
freedom and can form part of the public society. I think that people feel fewer
restrictions on their behaviour and can act in total anonymity. (Women in the Victorian era-Wikipedia,the free
encyclopedia).
Robert Browning, I think, started to write this type
of poems because the author would like to remember the situation that women had
been and especially Browning wanted that women or men feel identified in his
works.
In this poem that I have chosen,
“Porphyria’s lover”, I think that people could feel identified,
especially the couples that for different problems could not be together and
suffer for love. Robert Browning immerses the reader in the theme and at the
same time the poem makes you think about what it is saying. This poem is a
little sad, because you know that a lot of couples suffered and suffer this
problem of love, but it is also beautiful. “Porphyria’s
lover” is composed by simple words and especially has a simple theme. I
think that there is nothing confusing or complex.
by Merce Quiralte Moragues.
(19 January 2006)
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cited Web Pages:
- Victorian Era-Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Wikimedia foundations. last modified 4 May 2006. Visited 21 April
2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_period#Prostitution
Sources:
- “Phorpyria’s
Lover” (text of poem). Dr. Marjorie Bloy and Dr. Jon van Whye. Last
modified 8 April 2006. Visited 20 February 2006.
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/porphyria.html
Academic year 2005/2006
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Merce Quiralte Moragues
mamerqui@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press