第15章

Lay，andletcometheproperthroewouldthrillIntotheecstasyandoutthrobpain。”

VI。GiuseppeCaponsacchi，v。972。”blind?

Ay，asamanwouldbeinsidethesun，DeliriouswiththeplentitudeoflightShouldinterfusehimtothefinger-ends”——

X。ThePope，1564。”Youhavethesunrisenow，joinstruthtotruth。”

X。ThePope，1763。”Onemakesfoolslookfoolisherfifty-foldByputtingintheirplacethewiselikeyou，TotakethefullforceofanargumentWouldbuffettheirstolidityinvain。”

XI。Guido，858。

Heretheinfinitive”Totake”mightbeunderstood，atfirstlook，asthesubjectof”Wouldbuffet”；butitdependson”putting”，etc。，andthesubjectrelative”that”issuppressed：”anargument[that]

wouldbuffettheirstolidityinvain。””Willyouheartruthcandonoharmnorgood?”

XI。Guido，1915。”Iwho，withoutletforescapetoheaven，WouldtarryifsuchflightallowedmyfoeToraisehishead，relievedofthatfirmfootHadpinnedhimtothefierypavementelse！”

XI。Guido，2099。

i。e。，”thatfirmfoot[that]had(wouldhave)pinned。”……”ponder，ereyepass，EachincidentofthisstrangehumanplayPrivilyactedonatheatre，WasdeemedsecurefromeverygazebutGod’s，”——

XII。TheBookandtheRing，v。546。”Asyebecomespectatorsofthisscene——

*****——

AsoulmadeweakbyitspatheticwantOfjustthefirstapprenticeshiptosin，WouldthenceforthmakethesinningsoulsecureFromallfoessaveitself，that’struliestfoe，”——

XII。TheBookandtheRing，v。559。

i。e。，”sin，[that]would。””Washeproud，——atruescionofthestockWhichboretheblazon，shallmakebrightmypage”——

XII。TheBookandtheRing，v。821。

2。Theuseoftheinfinitivewithouttheprepositive”to”，isfrequentlyextendedbeyondpresentusage，especiallyin`Sordello’

and`TheRingandtheBook’。Thefollowingareexamples：——”Whofails，throughdeedshowe’erdiverse，RE-TRACK

Mypurposestill，mytask?”

Sordello，p。168。”failedAdelaideSEEthenWhowasthenaturalchief，themanofmen?”

Sordello，p。175。”butwhen’Twastimeexpostulate，attemptwithdrawTaurellofromhischild，”……

Sordello，p。180。

Herearetwoinfinitives，withtheprepositiveomitted，”expostulate”and”attempt”，bothdependentonthenoun”time”，andanother，”withdraw”，withouttheprepositive，dependenton”attempt”：”butwhen’twastime[to]expostulate，[to]attempt[to]withdraw”，etc。”Forthusheventured，totheverge，Pushavainmummery。”……

Sordello，p。190。

i。e。，forthusheventured[to]pushtothevergeavainmummery。”asyetHehadinconsciouslycontrivedFORGET

I’thewhole，todwello’thepoints”……

Sordello，p。190。”Grownbestial，dreaminghowBECOMEdivine。”

Sordello，p。191。”AndthewholemusicitwasframedAFFORD，”——

Sordello，p。203。”Wassuchalighting-upoffaith，inlife，Onlyallowedinitiate，setman’sstepInthetruewaybyhelpofthegreatglow?”

R。andB。X。ThePope，v。1815。

i。e。onlyallowed[to]initiate，[to]setman’sstep，etc。”IfImightreadinsteadofprintmyspeech，——

Ay，andenlivenspeechwithmanyaflowerRefusesobstinatelyblowinprint。”

R。andB。IX。Johannes-BaptistaBottinius，v。4。

Herethesubjectrelativeof”refuses”isomitted，andtheverbfollowedbyaninfinitivewithouttheprepositive：”manyaflower[that]refusesobstinately[to]blowinprint。”

3。Insteadofthemodernanalyticform，thesimpleformofthepastsubjunctivederivedfromtheAnglo-Saxoninflectionalform，andidenticalwiththatofthepastindicative，isfrequentlyemployed，thecontextonlyshowingthatitisthesubjunctive。(SeeAbbott’s`ShakespearianGrammar’，361etseq。)”WouldwesomeprizemightholdTomatchthosemanifoldPossessionsofthebrute，——gainmost，aswedidbest！”

RabbiBenEzra，St。xi。

i。e。，asweshoulddobest。”ThuswereabolishedSpringandAutumnboth，”

I。TheRingandtheBook，1358。

i。e。，wouldbeabolished。”HispeevishnesshadpromptlyputasideSuchhonorandrefusedtheprofferedboon，”……

II。HalfRome(R。andB。)，369。

i。e。，wouldhavepromptlyputaside。”(Whatdailypittancepleasedtheplundererdole。)”

X。ThePope(R。andB。)，561。

i。e。，asthecontextshows，[it]mightpleasetheplunderer[to]dole。”successiontotheinheritanceWhichboldercrimehadlostyou：”

IV。TertiumQuid(R。andB。)，1104。

i。e。，wouldhavelostyou。

Buttheverbs”be”and”have”arechieflysoused，andnotoftenbeyondwhatpresentusageallows。*——

*Tennysonuses”saw”=`viderem’，inthefollowingpassage：——”ButsinceIdidnotseetheHolyThing，IswareavowtofollowittillIsaw。”

SirPercivalein`TheHolyGrail’——

4。Theuseofthedative，orindirectobject，without”to”or”for”。

Suchdativesareveryfrequent，andscarcelyneedillustration。

Thepoethassimplycarriedtheuseofthembeyondthepresentgeneralusageofthelanguage。Butthere’sanoticeableoneinthePope’sMonologue，in`TheRingandtheBook’，vv。1464-1466：

TheArchbishopofArezzo，towhompoorPompiliahasapplied，inherdistress，forprotectionagainstherbrutalhusband，thinksitpoliticnottotakeherpart，butsendherbacktohimandenjoinobedienceandsubmission。ThePope，inhisMonologue，representsthecraftyArchbishopassaying，whenPompiliacries，”Protectmefromthewolf！””No，thyGuidoisrough，heady，strong，Dangeroustodisquiet：lethimbide！

Heneedssomebonetomumble，helpamuseThedarknessofhisdenwith：so，thefawnWhichlimpsupbleedingtomyfootandlies，——Cometomedaughter！——thusIthrowhimback！”

i。e。，thusIthrowback[to]himthefawnwhichlimpsupbleedingtomyfootandlies。Theparenthesis，”Cometome，daughter”，beinginterposed，andwhichisintroducedaspreparatorytohispurpose，addstothedifficultyoftheconstruction。

Thereare，afterall，butcomparativelyfewinstancesinBrowning’spoetry，wherethesefeaturesofhisdictioncanbefairlycondemned。Theyoftenimpartacrispnesstotheexpressionsinwhichtheyoccur。

Thecontrivingspiritofthepoet’slanguageoftenresultsingreatcomplexityofconstruction。Complexityofconstructionmaybeafault，anditmaynot。Itmaybejustifiedbythecomplexityofthethoughtwhichitbearsalong。”Clearquack-quackiseasilyuttered。”Butwhereanauthor’sthoughtisnimble，far-reaching，ellipticalthroughitsenergy，anddiscursive，theexpressionofitmustbemoreorlesscomplexorinvolved；

hewillemploysubordinateclauses，andparentheses，throughwhichtoexpresstheoutstanding，restricting，andtoningrelationsofhisthought，thatis，ifheisamasterofperspective，andrankshisgroupedthoughtsaccordingtotheirrelativeimportance。

Thepoet’sapostrophetohiswifeinthespirit-world，whichclosesthelongprologueto`TheRingandtheBook’(vv。1391-1416)，andinwhichheinvokesheraidandbenediction，intheworkhehasundertaken，presentsagreatercomplexityofconstructionthanistobemetwithanywhereelseinhisworks；andofthispassageitmaybesaid，asitmaybesaidofanyotherhavingacomplexconstruction，supposingthistobetheonlydifficulty，thatit’shardratherthanobscure，anddemandsclosereading。But，notwithstandingitscomplexstructureandthefreightofthoughtconveyed，thepassagehasaremarkableLIGHTSOMENESSofmovement，andisafinespecimenofblankverse。Theunobtrusive，butdistinctlyfelt，alliterationwhichrunsthroughit，contributessomethingtowardthislightsomeness。ThefirsttwoverseshaveaTennysonianring：——”OlyricLove，half-angelandhalf-birdAndallawonderandawilddesire，——

Boldestofheartsthateverbravedthesun，Tooksanctuarywithintheholierblue，5Andsangakindredsoulouttohisface，——

Yethumanatthered-ripeoftheheart——

WhenthefirstsummonsfromthedarklingearthReachedtheeamidthychambers，blanchedtheirblue，Andbaredthemoftheglory——todropdown，10Totoilforman，tosufferortodie，——

Thisisthesamevoice：canthysoulknowchange?

Hailthen，andhearkenfromtherealmsofhelp！

NevermayIcommencemysong，mydueToGodwhobesttaughtsongbygiftofthee，15Exceptwithbentheadandbeseechinghand——

Thatstill，despitethedistanceandthedark，Whatwas，againmaybe；someinterchangeOfgrace，somesplendouroncethyverythought，Somebenedictionancientlythysmile：

20——Neverconclude，butraisinghandandheadThitherwhereeyes，thatcannotreach，yetyearnForallhope，allsustainment，allreward，Theirutmostupandon，——soblessingbackInthosethyrealmsofhelp，thatheaventhyhome，25Somewhitenesswhich，Ijudge，thyfacemakesproud，Somewannesswhere，Ithink，thyfootmayfall！”*

*Inthelastthreeversesof`TheRingandtheBook’

thepoetagainaddresseshis”LyricLove”toexpressthewishthattheRing，whichhehasroundedoutoftheroughoreoftheRomanmurdercase，mightbutlie”inguardianship”outsidehers，”Thyraregoldringofverse(thepoetpraised)

LinkingourEnglandtohisItaly。”

ThereferenceistotheinscriptiononCasaGuidi，ViaMaggiore，9。Florence：

QUISCRISSEEMORI

ELISABETTABARRETTBROWNING

CHEINCUOREDIDONNACONCILIAVA

SCIENZADIDOTTOESPIRITODIPOETA

EFECEDELSUOVERSOAUREOANELLO

FRAITALIAEINGHILTERRA

PONEQUESTOMEMORIA

FIRENZEGRATA

1861。