Analysis of Two In The Campagna by Robert Browning

Analysis of "Two In The Campagna" by Robert Browning

"Two In The Campagna" is essentially a love poem, written by Browning

to capture the tragic and dark aspects of a relationship. The poem

commences with romantic images of the couple sitting in the fields of

Rome in spring. The first line, starting with 'I wonder' sets the

contemplative tone of the piece, and the poet follows one particular

trail of thought for several stanzas. Clearly, the poet is trying to

capture what cannot be easily confined; he is attempting to articulate

a sentiment of fleeting love that perhaps can only be felt. Browning

describes the thought floating away over the picturesque scenery:

?Help me to hold it! First it left

The yellowing fennel, run to seed

There, branching from the brickwork?s cleft??

The flowing lines and use of enjambment represent his thoughts

spilling over, almost frolicking through the fields of Rome. This

style of poetry is used by Browning regularly: for example in ?Love

Among The Ruins? his thoughts flow over from one line to the next ?

however the message of this poem is the opposite from ?Two In The

Campagna?, as the former depicts the enduring power of passionate

love, and the latter describes the natural diminution of feelings

after the passionate climax of sex.

The poem becomes increasingly vibrant and passionate as the couple

evidently become sexually aroused together. In my opinion, the

imagery of the beetles inside a flower is incredibly vivid and is one

of my personal favourite images in all of Browning?s love poetry:

??Where one small orange cup amassed

Five beetles,--blind and green they grope

Among the honey-meal??

The images are abundantly fertile, with an intense evocation...

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illogically violent ways. However, it does capture the essence of

jealousy, possessiveness and the yearning for eternal unity that many

people do feel. Browning has evidently taken this to the extreme

effectively, as it is his style to shock the reader.

In conclusion, Browning uses many different techniques of conveying

the complexities of human passion, and does this effectively from many

points of view on love. However, it does seem that Browning usually

has a slightly subdued, possibly even warped view of love and romance

? and this could be because his own love life was publicly perceived

to be ultimately perfect but retrospectively it appears his marriage

with Elizabeth Browning was full of doubt and possessiveness, as seen

in ?Any Wife To Any Husband? which most critics believe to be based on

the troubled relationship between the Browning?s.