Browning's poems

I have done an outline of the poems so it is very brief. If you have any questions then leave a comment :)

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  • Browning's Poetry
    • My Last Duchess
      • From the title it self, there is an idea that the Duchess is treated like an object, and the Duke is possessive over her. it also shows that she is from a high status. The word *Last* could mean either she is dead or that the Duke is going to marry someone else.
      • Important quotes:  *...called that spot Of joy into...*  *Half-flush that dies along her throat* *Too easily impressed* *but ranked...my gift of a nine year hundred year old name...* *This grew; I have commands;*
      • The idea that he feels that she does accept his gift suggests that she appreciates and likes materialistic gifts rather than figurative gifts and this leads to the increase of his jealousy.
      • The Duke wants to appear as important, someone with a higher status, innocent or as the victim, someone with high expectations.
        • But in reality he is seems to be selfish, arrogant, dominant, jealous, controlling, materialistic
      • The idea that the poem is in a form of a monologue with no stanza's shows how and what the Duke felt about the Duchess and he is reflecting on the issues that were important to him. The fact that he is the only narrator may suggest that he might not the reader everything and he may be biased in what he tells us
    • The Patriot
      • From the title itself the reader gets an idea that the speaker is a war hero and the SUBTITLE suggests that the story has been passed down for generations.
      • Line 1 shows a sense of sacrifice and it gives the narrator Greek legend heroic qualities. The use of "myrtle" can be linked to Gatsby and it is something similar to an olive.
      • By the last stanza, the use of "Thus" suggests that the speaker is acknowledging that he is punished and the last 3 lines are his conversation with God.
      • The methods in this poem help to tell the story of a man who was a proud hero and stood up for his country but 1 year later, due to some reason he is punished and killed.
        • The methods help to do so because it reinforces the idea that he is innocent and he has not done anything. Also, the townsfolk hold him responsible for the mistake and he has done the opposite of what a patriot should do.
        • However, the speaker can be claimed unreliable because we as a reader do not know what he did wrong so as a reader we do not know if he is innocent or not and whether he deserves the punishment or not.
    • The Pied Piper
      • The subtitle of it being a Child's story suggests that it might include a moral by the end of it and it creates a darker than the original story.
      • The first line brings the story to life and the speaker introduces the lovely town and the problem of the rats. the last 3 lines of the 1st stanza, there is a change of tome and the use of "vermin" suggests the setting of the place and how it would have affected the people that lived there.
      • In the second stanza the use of the sibilance and list of 3 *speaking,* *shrieking* *squeaking* and the repetition of the "e" noises, creates humour to the poem and throughout the whole stanza there Browning has used hyperbole to the whole situation.
      • From Lines 236 to 255 it can be seen in 2 different ways
        • One way is that the Pied Piper is stealing the children away so that he can protect them from the evil villagers and will go towards the "mountainside" and away from the village.
        • Another interpretation could be that the children fell for the music and the children are led to believe that there is a better life for them instead of them getting kidnapped.
      • The methods that are used in this poem help to tell the story of a man (the pied piper) comes and helps the town but is betrayed by the people and it ends with him taking his revenge. The methods do this by giving a wide range of characters a different voice. The reader can hear what they want to say. Furthermore, the use of a moral at the end suggests that the poem is a poem for children and it shows that children should always keep their promises.
        • For example, the reader can hear the voices of the speaker or narrator, the public, the mayor, the child and the rats.
    • Porphyria's Lover
      • Porphyria is a rare illness of the blood and it affects the nervous system. Some of the results are depression, seizure, or being paranoid.
      • The idea that there are no stanza's suggest that everything happened quickly and urgently; as soon as the speaker came to the cottage.
      • The idea that it is cold and raining  outside foreshadows what might happen and it suggests something bad will happen because the female is breaking the rules and norms of society. the use of clothing such as the gloves and the hat suggest that she is from a higher status OR it can suggest that the speaker is giving in to her desires.
    • Fra Lippo Lippi
    • The Laboratory

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