CARMEN PASCUAL SASTRE
PAPER IV
|
Love in a Life |
|
by Robert Browning |
|
|
|
I Room after room, II Yet the day wears, |
http://www.netpoets.com/classic/poems/009016.htm
Love in a Life
from
Robert Browning Men and Women, vol. I (1855).
First
publication date: 1855.
‘Love in a Life’ is a poem
by Robert Browning which, at first sight, talks about love as the main subject.
Its title is highly illustrative, it presents ‘love’ to the readers as
something that can or cannot be part of a life. Moreover, to emphasize such
possibility in a life, the author has used the literary device of alliteration;
he uses the same liquid sound at the beginning of the two lexical items that
make up the title (love, life).
Throughout
the full poem, Browning narrates the search of a girl, the search of her love,
the search of the woman he is in love with, through a house. But parallel to
this search, the search of knowledge, science and discoveries is also implied.
Therefore, Browning hides the idea of the new explorers and scientists below
the image of a man in love who searches his lover.
The
poem is divided into two paragraphs and it does not follow any regular metre.
However, the structure of the first paragraph is almost identical to the second
paragraph’s one. The same patterns are repeated.
From the
very first line the author introduces the image of searching by the sentence
‘Room after room’. Furthermore, in the following line he uses the verb ‘hunt’
with the meaning of searching, searching her love through the entire house. But
the election of the verb ‘hunt’ instead of ‘search’ or ‘look for’, for
instance, can be related to imperialism and colonialism, because of the
connotation of cannibalism and savagery of this word, keeping in mind that
these methods were used during this period of the History of England. This verb
also means to chase animals, so it can be even related to slaves. Hence, with
the use of it, Browning once again sets an ambiguous scene to the reader, a
scene which can have two ways of being interpreted. And something similar happens
with the next verb ‘inhabit’, which one of its uses is related to animals
living in an area or place.
Going forward, the
fourth line has the implied sense of encouraging the reader to read, to the
individual knowledge, which was very typical during the Victorian Age among
Browning’s acquaintances, but which was not
Browning’s case, since he went to University, (Heart, fear nothing,
for, heart, thou shalt find her,...).[1] The following line ( Next time,
herself! -not the trouble behind her...) is still fostering the same idea
of science, knowledge, but this time the author tries to encourage the reader
not to be afraid of the problems that to achieve a cultural level could
signify, which, as he states in the next line, are Left in the curtain, the
couch's perfume!. Browning states all these ideas of progress, together
with the ideas of evolution and natural laws, which defined Victorianism,[2]
through the image of love. Therefore, among the two last lines of the first
paragraph he uses a metaphor to exemplify the troubles of her lover. But he is
exemplifying at the same time the idea of leaving behind the closed religious
explanations to the mysteries of life and the idea of investigating and being
more critical,
(As she brushed it, the cornice-wreath blossomed anew, -
Yon looking-glass gleamed at the wave of her feather.)
During
the second paragraph, the author continues with the same double exemplification
of love and science. Here probably the most interesting lines, because of its
clarity, are the three last ones. Line 13 (Spend my whole day in the quest,
-who cares?) invites the reader to think that there is never enough time to
be used for science, that there is always a new thing to discover. This line
can be seen as a challenge to the ortodox Genesis, which defends that every
single thing was created by God.
But,
perhaps, the best verse of the poem because of the double image it manages to
build up, is the last one:
But 'tis twilight, you see, -with
such suites to explore,
Such closets to search, such alcoves to importune!
Through
these last lines the double meaning of searching results evident. The use of
verbs such as explore or the image of a lot of things and places to be searched
through, make reference to the social events and the progress which were taking
place at the time. But, at the same time, these lines are speaking about love,
with the implied meaning of exploring the body of the woman he is in love with.
Personally,
I am impressed by the ability of Robert Browning to write such an interesting
poem. I am impressed by his capacity to reflect a love story and the needs of
his society at the same time in a poem, and in a very intelligent way. ‘Love in
a Life’ is a poem which can be perfectly interpreted in one way or the other,
it just has to do with the anxieties and likes of the reader.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.netpoets.com/classic/poems/009016.htm
Love in a
life by Robert Browning, Ron Carnell, 1998, (16-01-2006).
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/class.html
Social Class, David Cody, 2002, (17-01-2006).
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/litrel.html
Browning’s Influence, Glenn Everett, 2002, (17-01-2006).
http://www.victorianweb.org/science/evolution.html
Evolution, progress and natural laws, John Van Wyhe,
2002, (17-01-2006).