Monday, June 23, 2008
Robert Browning
Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" was something different to read. The poem was so beautiful and sweet (well at least the beginning was). I like the fact that he descibed the weather conditions outside, "The rain set early in to-night, the sullen wind was soon awake" (pg. 662), because it really sets the tone for the poem as well as show how much Prophyria really loves him. The fact that she walked through the storm to get to him was a true testament of the love that she has for him. Browning made the poem even better by describing the interaction between the 2 of them inside the house/cottage. What a lot of people sometimes don't get is that it more often than not it's the simple things that mean the most to people of significance and Browning really grasped those small endearing things, "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" (pg. 662). But once I got to line 38, "...and all her hair in one long yellow string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangles her" (pg. 663), everything I thought previously went out the window. I am really mad that he straight killed her like that and then had the nerve to sit there with her as if she were still alive and everything was all flowers and sunshine. This poem is a classic example of a psycopath who can't bear to lose the only love they have ever received from another human being so they kill that person in order to permanently retain it. This poem was so creepy but so good at the same time.
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6 comments:
Samantha,
Glad you enjoyed this creepy poem! I enjoyed reading your account of the reactions you had at various points in reading it!
This was a "creepy" poem, yet you want to read it to figure out what happened. Especially the way he killed her with her own hair. The death was soo unexpected.
Browning totally surprised and shocked me with this poem. It was all nice and dandy in the beginning, and it was appalling to know how he could kill this innocent woman who loved him. how rude wouldn't you say. I just still am shocked to know that he killed her out of the blue. great post.
I agree with what you say about the poem. It's especially creep since the tone of the poem doesn't really seem affected. There's no sense of chaos or anything that would signal something bad just happened. It just continues on, rythmic and unaffected like this sort of thing happens all the time.
Wow! What a creepy poem and creepy man. I never expected him to kill the person who loved him so dearly. I enjoyed you post.
I do agree with what you think about this lover being a psychopath in one. He definitely had a hard time letting go, but at the same time let it all go. Browning really set the mood and tone well. I felt like I wanted to be apart of a similar romance, but I will pass.
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