RABBI BEN EZRA. (PAGE 133.)
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Abraham Ben Meir Ben Ezra, into whose mouth Browning puts the reflections in this poem, was born in Toledo, Spain, in 1090, and died about 1168. He was distinguished as philosopher,[page 260] astronomer, physician, and poet. The ideas of the poem are drawn largely from the writings of Rabbi Ben Ezra. See Berdoe's Browning Cyclopædia.
1. Grow old along with me. Come, and let us talk of old age.
7-15. Not that. Connect "not that" of lines 7 and 10, and the "not for, etc.," of 13, with "Do I remonstrate" in line 15.
29. hold of. Are like, share the nature of.
39-41. Compare A Grammarian's Funeral.
117. be named. That is, known, or distinguished.
124. Was I (whom) the world arraigned. Browning frequently omits the relative.
139-144. Compare lines 36-41. Note here and elsewhere in this poem the frequent repetition, and variation of the same idea.
151. Potter's wheel. The figure of the Potter's wheel is frequent in Oriental literature. See Isaiah lxiv. 8, and Jeremiah xviii, 2-6; see also Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat, stanzas xxxvii, xxxviii, lxxxii-xc.
169-171. In the period of youth.
What cares agitate youth? Why is it better so? Wherein does man partake of the nature of God? What plea is made for the "value and significance of flesh"? Show how Browning denies the doctrine of asceticism. What is meant by "the whole design," line 56? Why does Rabbi Ben Ezra pause at the threshold of old age? What has youth achieved? What advantage has old age? What are its pleasures? Its employments?[page 261] Explain the figure in lines 91-5. By what are the man and his work to be judged? Compare the use of the figure of the Potter's wheel with that in the Old Testament. What has Browning added? Point out the element of optimism in the poem. How does its view of old age differ from the pagan view? See Browning's Cleon.
A GRAMMARIAN'S FUNERAL. (PAGE 143.)
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The Grammarian is a type of the early scholars who gave to Europe the treasures of Greek thought by translating the manuscripts recovered after the fall of Constantinople. The time is therefore the Renaissance, the latter part of the fifteenth century, and the place probably Italy. The Grammarian was a scholar and thinker, not a mere student of grammar in the modern sense.
23. Our low life. Lacking the learning and high endeavor of their master.
45-46. the world bent on escaping. That is, the world of the past.
48. shaping, their mind and character.
97-98. Compare with lines 65-72, 77-84, and 103-4.
129-131. The Greek particles οτι, ουν, and δέ.
Describe the scene and action of the poem. Note the march-like and irregular movement of the verse: does it fit the theme? Why do they carry the Grammarian up from the plain? What was his work? What was his aim? What is the value of such work (1) in presenting an ideal of life, (2) in the history of culture? What circumstances in his life enhance[page 262] his praise? Did he make any mistake? Does Browning think so? How does Browning defend him? What imagery in the poem seems especially effective? Are you reminded of anything in "Rabbi Ben Ezra"? Criticise the rhymes and metre.
ANDREA DEL SARTO. (PAGE 149.)
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An Italian painter, of the Florentine school; born 1487, died 1531. His merits and defects as an artist are given in the poem. The crime to which he is here made to refer was the use, for building himself a house, of the money intrusted to him by the French king for the purchase of works of art. For an account of his life and work see the article in the Encyclopædia Britannica, and Vasari's Lives of the Painters.
15. Fiesole (pronounced Fe-´ā-so-lě). A small Italian town near Florence.
119. Rafael. The great painter, Raphael (1483-1520).
130. Agnolo. Michael Angelo (1475-1584), one of Italy's greatest men: famous as sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.
150. Fontainebleau. A town southeast of Paris, formerly the residence of French kings, and still famous for its Renaissance architecture and for the landscapes around it.
241. scudi. The scudo is an Italian silver coin worth about one dollar.
262. Leonard. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), another of Italy's great men: artist, poet, musician, and scientist.
Construct the scene and action of the poem. How does the coloring harmonize with the artist's mood? Why is he weary? How does he think of his art: what merit has it? What does[page 263] it lack? How does he explain this lack? What clew to it does his life afford? Is his art soulless because he has done wrong? Or, do the lack of soul in his painting, and the wrongdoing, and the infatuation with Lucrezia's beauty, all arise from the same thing,—the man's own nature? Does he appeal to your sympathy, or provoke your condemnation? Does he blame himself, or another, or circumstances?
What idea have you of Lucrezia? What does she think of Andrea? Of his art? What things does he desire of her?
What problems of life are here presented? Which is principal: the relation of man and woman, the need of soul for great work, or the interrelation between character and achievement? Or, is there something else for which the poem stands?
Can you cite any lines that embody the main idea of the poem? Does anything in it remind you of The Grammarian, or of Rabbi Ben Ezra?
CALIBAN UPON SETEBOS. (PAGE 161.)
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Setebos was the god of Caliban's mother, the witch Sycorax, on Prospero's island.
Read Shakespeare's The Tempest. Observe especially all that is said by or about Caliban. Observe that Browning makes Caliban usually speak of himself in the third person, and prefixes an apostrophe to the initial verb, as in the first line.
Tylor's Primitive Culture and Early History of Mankind give interesting accounts of the religions of savages.
How is Caliban's savage nature indicated in the opening scene? What things does he think Setebos has made? From what motives? What limit to the power of Setebos? Why[page 264] does Caliban imagine these limits? How does Setebos govern? Out of what materials does Caliban build his conceptions of his deity? Why does he fear him? How does he propitiate him? Why is he terrified at the end? Compare this passage with the latter part of the Book of Job. What, in general, is the meaning of the poem? Can you cite anything in the history of religions to parallel Caliban's theology?
"CHILDE ROLAND TO THE DARK TOWER CAME." (PAGE 174.)
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When Browning was asked by Rev. Dr. J.W. Chadwick whether the central idea of this poem was constancy to an ideal,—"He that endureth to the end shall be saved,"—he answered, "Yes, just about that."
4-5. to afford suppression of. To suppress.
48. its estray. That is, Childe Roland himself.
66. my prisoners. Those who had met their death on the plain? Or, its imprisoned vegetation?
91. Not it! Memory did not give hope and solace.
133. cirque. A circle or enclosure.
137. galley-slaves whom the Turk, etc.
140. engine. Machine.[page 265]
Note the hero's mood of doubt and despair. At what point in his quest do we see him? What does he do after meeting the cripple? How does the landscape seem as he goes on? What moral quality does it seem to have? See lines 56-75. What new elements are introduced to add to the horror of the scene? What memories come to him of the failures of his friends? Was their disgrace in physical or moral failure? How does he come to find the Tower? Why does Browning represent it as a "dark tower"? Does his courage fail at the end of his quest? Or does he win the victory in finding the tower and blowing the challenge?
AN EPISTLE. (PAGE 183.)
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The Arabs were among the earliest in the cultivation of mathematical and medical science. This fact, together with their monotheism, makes Karshish an appropriate character for the experience of the poem.
1-14. An ancient and oriental idea of the soul and its relation to the body.
15. Sage. Abib, to whom the letter is sent.
17. snake-stone. A stone used to cure snake-bites.
19. charms. Note here and elsewhere the mixture of science and superstition.
21-33. The poet has given local color to the journey.
28. Vespasian was appointed general-in-chief against the [page 266] insurgent Jews in 67 A.D., and began the great siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The date of the poem and the length of time since Lazarus's return to life may thus be estimated.
37-38. Note the vividness gained by making Karshish keep the physician's point of view.
44. falling-sickness ... cure. Epilepsy. Karshish is already admitting into his letter the story of Lazarus.
48. Not only spiders, but many other animals or parts of animals were formerly used as medicines.
64-65. Karshish, still half ashamed of his interest in the marvellous story he has to tell, first gives this as a pretext, and then, in the next lines confesses.
171 ff. Belief in magic survived in some degree among the educated until a century or two ago.
177. Greek-fire. A violently inflammable substance, supposed to have been a compound of naphtha, sulphur, and nitre, which was hurled against the enemy in battle. As it was first used in 673, in the siege of Constantinople, Browning is guilty of an unimportant anachronism.
252-255. A good touch, to make the earthquake mean to Karshish an omen of the gravest event within his ken.
268-269. Karshish, still unconvinced by the story of Lazarus, naturally regards it as irreverent.
304-311. This comes to Karshish as an afterthought, a corollary to the idea in the body of the poem.
How is the general style of the verse-letter maintained? What is Karshish's mission in Judea? How does he show his[page 267] devotion to his art? Point out instances of local color. Are they in harmony with the main current of the poem, or do they detract from the interest in the story? Why does Karshish work up to his story so diffidently? Why has the incident taken such hold upon him? What do you conceive to be his character and worth as a man?
What of Lazarus? What change has been wrought in him? Is he in any way unfitted for this life? To what does Karshish compare him, with his sudden wealth of insight behind the veil of the next world? Which of the two men is better fitted for the condition in which he is placed? What religious significance does the story of Lazarus come to have to Karshish? What parallel ideas do you find in Rabbi Ben Ezra and in this poem? Compare George Eliot's story, The Lifted Veil.
SAUL. (PAGE 196.)
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This is generally regarded as one of Browning's greatest poems. Even his detractors concede to it beauty of form, fervor of feeling, and richness of imagery. The incident upon which it is based is found in 1 Samuel, chapter xvi. Saul is in the depths of mental eclipse, and David has been summoned to cure him by music. The young shepherd sings to him first the songs that appeal to the gentle animals; then the songs that men use in their human relationships,—songs of labor, of the wedding-feast, of the burial-service, of worship; then he sings the joy of physical life, ending in an appeal to the ambition of King Saul. Saul is roused, but not yet brought to will to live. So David sings anew of the life of the spirit, the spirit of Saul living for his people. Then a touch of tenderness[page 268] from the king flashes into David a prophetic insight: If he, the imperfect, would do so much for love of Saul, what would God, the all-perfect, do for men? And so he reaches the conception of the Christ, the incarnation.
The poem is full of echoes of the Old Testament, fused with the spirit of modern Christianity and modern thinking. It is touched here and there with bits of beauty from Oriental landscape. The long, even swell of the lines carries one along with no sense of the roughness so common in Browning's verse. Rising by steady degrees to the climax, we feel, like David, some sense of the "terrible glory," some sense of the unseen presences that hovered around him as he made his way home in the night.
ONE WORD MORE. (PAGE 224.)
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One Word More was appended to Browning's volume Men and Women (1855), by way of dedication of the book to his wife. It is characteristic of its author in its reality of feeling, in its seeking an unusual point of view, in its parenthetic and allusive style, and its occasional high felicity of expression. Those who feel overpowered by Browning's vigor and profundity of thought, might stop here to note the exquisite inconsistency between the examples cited and the thing thus illustrated. The painter turning poet, the poet turning painter, the moon turning her unseen face to a mortal lover; these are compared to Browning the poet,—writing another poem. The only difference in his art is that the poet here speaks for himself in the first person, and not, as usual, dramatically in the third person. The idea of the poem may be found, stripped of digression[page 269] and fanciful comparisons, in the eighth, twelfth, fourteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth stanzas. Something of the same idea appears in My Star.
5. Rafael, etc. More commonly spelled Raphael. Born in Italy in 1483, died in 1520; generally regarded as the greatest of painters. The Sistine Madonna, at Dresden, is considered his greatest work. See lines 21-24.
Only four of his sonnets exist. A translation of these is given in Cooke's Guide Book to Browning. There is no authentic record of such a "century of sonnets" having ever existed.
10. Tradition is dim and uncertain as to the identity of this love of Raphael's.
27. Guido Reni (1576-1642). A celebrated Italian painter. Berdoe says that the volume owned by Guido Reni was a collection of a hundred drawings by Raphael.
32-33. Dante (1265-1321). The greatest of Italian poets. His Divina Commedia, consisting of the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, is his most famous work. His romantic passion for Beatrice (pronounced: Bā-a˙-trē-che) is referred to in his Divina Commedia, and is recounted in his Vita Nuova.
37-43. In allusion to the fact that Dante freely consigned his enemies, political and personal, living or dead, to appropriate places in his Inferno and Purgatorio.
45-48. This interruption of his work is described in the thirty-fifth section of the Vita Nuova. The hostile nature of the visit seems to be of Browning's invention.—COOKE.
74 ff. In allusion to Moses smiting the rock and bringing [page 270] forth water. See Exodus, chapter xvii.
95. Egypt's flesh-pots. See Exodus, chapter xvi.
97. Sinai's cloven brilliance. See Exodus, chapter six. 16-25.
101. Jethro's daughter, Zipporah. See Exodus, chapters ii and xviii.
136. Cleon. See the poem of that name. Norbert. See In a Balcony.
138. Lippo. See Fra Lippo Lippi.
150. Samminiato. San Miniato, a church in Florence.
160. Mythos. In reference to the myths of Endymion, the mortal with whom the goddess Diana (the moon) fell in love. See a classical dictionary, and Keats's poem Endymion.
163. Zoroaster. The founder of the Persian religion. Reference is here made to his observations of the heavenly bodies while meditating on religious things.
164. Galileo (1564-1642). The great Italian physicist and astronomer.
165. Keats. See note on line 160.
174. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu. See Exodus, chapter xxiv.
186. Compare the idea in My Star.
ROBERT BROWNING