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Naji Rizig British Literature Mrs. Boagni 4 April 2014 Biographical Preface Robert Browning was born on May 7th, 1812 in Camberwell, London, England. He is considered to be one of the two major poets of the Victorian era. His first poem was written when he was at the age of six. At the age of eight he attended a boarding school until he was sixteen. He then enrolled at the University of London in 1828. Having only stayed at the university for a few months, Browning decided to leave to follow his dream of becoming a poet. Most of his education came from tutors and the many books found in his father’s library. His love to write came from reading many famous works such as Alexander Pope’s Iliad of Homer as well as many romantic poems. His favorite poet was Percy Bysshe Shelley. The first official poem Browning wrote and published is “Pauline” in 1833. In 1846 he met his soon to be wife Elizabeth Barrett and quickly fell in love. They went to Italy where they would later get eloped, have a son, and live there till the death of his wife in 1861. After her death, Browning and his son moved back to England where published The Ring and the Book. It was a series of dramatic monologues related to a seventeenth century murder case. It was the book that essentially established his reputation. He continued on to publish Dramatic Idyls in the years 1879 through 1880 and received world-wide fame. Browning is most widely known for creating the dramatic monologue. In 1881 the Browning Society was built to study and analyze Browning’s poems and to celebrate his work. Browning died in 1889 in Venice, Italy and was buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. Robert Browning: His Influence on Victorian Poetry The Victorian era was a time of harmon... ... middle of paper ... ...and all her hair In one long yellow string I wound Three times her little throat around, And strangled her” (Browning 36-41). Here the twisted mind of Browning is shown. He takes a moment and makes it seem as if it is lovely and sweet and then unexpectedly hits you with a surprise to teach you the lesson of expecting the unexpected. Most of Browning’s works have something in common. Browning believed in recitation with states of mind and he believed in extreme states of mind. Poems that had this reoccurring theme include “Porphyria’s Lover,” “Johannes Agri-cole in Meditation,” “Soliloquy of the Spanish Choister,” and “My Last Duchess”. An example from “My Last Duchess” includes, “In speech -- (which I have not) -- to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, 'Just this Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark'” (Browning 36-39).
In ‘My Last Duchess’ Browning also uses iambic pentameter to also show how controlling the Duke is as the poem follows strict rules. [add evidence of him being strict]The use of rhyming couplets is to emphasise words at the end of the line and make readers think of the specific word choice.
"Robert Browning." Critical Survey of Poetry: English Language Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 1. Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1982. 338, 341.
Most people have fallen in love at least once in their lives. I too fall in this category. Just like any Disney movie that you watch, people fall in love with each other, and they get married and live happily ever after right? Wrong! In real life, there are some strange things that can happen, including death, divorce, or other weird things that you never see in Disney movies. Robert Browning’s literary works are great examples of “Non-Fairytale Endings.” Not only does Browning have endings in his stories that aren’t the norm in children movies, but he also has some twisted and interesting things happen in the story of lovers. In Robert Browning’s works, Porphyria’s Lover, and My Last Duchess, the speakers can be both compared and contrasted.
"There are no extraordinary men... just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are faced to deal with" (William Halsey). The same can be said about volatile men. This is the quote Christopher R. Browning thought of when he named this book. The men of the 101st battalion were rarely faced with decisions. Even if it had been proposed by Trapp the morning of Jozefow that "any of the older men who did not feel up to the task that lay before them could step out" (Browning, chapter 7, pg. 57), he didn't actually allow them any time to truly think about it. He brought it up moments before they were about to go out to the slaughter. They were blind-sided and the men who didn't want to risk the future of their jobs as policemen or the men that didn't want to look weak in front of their peers were ushered into a massacre unlike that they could have ever imagined. But because they were all basically forced to give killing a shot, it only allowed them to adapt to war easier. The job that the men of the 101st had to carry out continued to get easier as they adapted to the climate of the war by creating rules for themselves. These ordinary men were no longer in an ordinary situation.
held, and he is clearly very controlling in his relationships. Browning's use of the first person narrative in "My Last Duchess" allows the reader to gain insight into the Duke's character and personality. The use of the servant as a listener also allows the reader to see how the Duke interacts with others and how he wants to be perceived. Overall, Browning's use of the first person narrative in his dramatic monologues is a powerful tool in revealing the thoughts and feelings of his characters.
Edward Taylor’s poem “The Preface” consist of questions as to how the world was created. The purpose of this poem is to reveal God's sovereign authority over creation and life itself. No sooner do you understand one paradox that he changes to a different set that gets a little confusing. The need to understand the next set of metaphors and picture it and then to put all together to get the message that Taylor was trying to give.
Robert Frost is very successful poet from the 20th century, as well as a four time Pulitzer Prize winner. Robert Frost work was originally published in England and later would be published in the US. He was also considered one of the most popular and respected poets of his century. Robert Frost created countless of poems and plays, many of them containing similar themes. Some of the most popular themes found in his poems encompass isolation, death and everyday life.
French writer Victor Hugo, was banished by Napoleon III, emperor of France, for writings that were critical to the government. In April of 1857, English Poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a letter to Napoleon, which she never mailed. Imploring Napoleon to excuse Hugo for writing a furious letter to the government.
Robert Browning, the poet, uses iambic pentameter throughout the poem. He breaks up the pattern so that every two lines rhyme. Aside from being a dramatic monologue, the poem is also considered lyric poetry because it is a poem that evokes emotion but does not tell a story. The poem is being told in the speaker's point-of-view about his first duchess, also as revealed in the title, The Last Duchess. The setting is important because the duke's attitude correlates to how men treated women at that time. The theme of the poem appears to be the duke's possessive love and his reflections on his life with the duchess, which ultimately brings about murder and his lack of conscience or remorse.
as far as to declare her love as the sole reason for her existence in
Browning's amazing command of words and their effects makes this poem infinitely more pleasurable to the reader. Through simple, brief imagery, he is able to depict the lovers' passion, the speaker's impatience in reaching his love, and the stealth and secrecy of their meeting. He accomplishes this feat within twelve lines of specific rhyme scheme and beautiful language, never forsaking aesthetic quality for his higher purposes.
By using references of her grief or her losses, Browning creates a more realistic view of her love suggesting that her love is sincere as it comes from a grieved person, which differs to the positive and idealistic feelings portray in the first octave. The poet then talks about her fondness of her love, revealing that her she lives for her love “ I love thee with the breath, / smiles, tears, of all my life;” (line 12-13), the asyndetic listings of the verbs ‘breath’, ‘smiles’ and ‘tears’, implying that her love can stem from different emotions she feels such as happiness and sadness, suggesting to her beloved that her love comes from good and sad points of her life.
Robert Browning frequently wrote dramatic monologues to enhance the dark and avaricious qualities in his works. Browning's use of this particular style is to "evoke the unconstrained reaction of a person in aparticular situation or crisis" (Napierkowski 170). A poem may say one thing, but when mixed with dramatic monologue, it may "present a meaning at odds with the speaker's intention"(Napierkowski 170). This change may show the reader more insight into the poem without directly stating the underlying facts. The reader is allowed to "isolate a single moment in which the character reveals himself more starkly" (Napierkowski 171). Browning's use of dramatic monologue "disposes the reader to suspend moral judgement" (Napierkowski 171) causing a haughtiness to hover over many of his works.
has a listener within the poem, but the reader of the poem is also one
Robert Frost is one of America’s most loved and respected poets. He did a great job capturing the hearts of his readers with his natural imagery and ability to use metaphors to reveal the truths that he was trying to convey. Frost’s life was filled with many struggles including several losses in his family. His early struggles would continue through his educational period, as he wouldn’t graduate from college. Frost traveled to Great Britain to gain some ideas on poetry, and then returned the America to begin writing again (Famous Poets and Poems 1). He would have great successes, and would win numerous awards and honors for his work. The purpose of this research project is to educate the reader of Robert Frost’s biographical information, his career as a writer, the awards and honors that he was able to obtain, and Frost’s writing style.