第16章

”his”，v。5，thesun’s。”Yethuman”，v。6：though`kindred’ tothesun，yetproved`human’……`whenthefirstsummons’，etc。”Thisisthesamevoice”，v。11，i。e。，avoiceofthesameimportaswas”thefirstsummons”——oneinvokinghelp。Thenouns”interchange”，”splendour”，”benediction”，vv。17，18，19，areappositivesof”what”，v。17。”Neverconclude”，v。20，tobeconstruedwith”commence”，v。13：”Never[mayI]conclude”。”Theirutmostupandon”，v。23，tobeconstruedwith”yearn”，v。21。”so”，v。23，looksbackto”raisinghandandhead”，etc。”Somewhiteness”……v。25，”Somewanness”……v。26，tobeconstruedwith”blessingback”。

SeeanelaborateanalysisofthisInvocation，byDr。F。J。Furnivall，readattheforty-eighthmeetingoftheBrowningSociety，February25，1887，beingNo。39oftheSociety’sPapers。

But，afterall，thedifficultiesinBrowningwhichresultfromtheconstructionofthelanguage，bethatwhatitmay，arenotthemaindifficulties，ashasbeentoogenerallysupposed。

THEMAINDIFFICULTIESAREQUITEINDEPENDENTOFTHECONSTRUCTION

OFTHELANGUAGE。

Manyreaders，especiallythosewhotakeanintellectualattitudetowardallthings，intheheavensaboveandintheearthbeneath，supposethattheyarepreparedtounderstandalmostanythingwhichisunderstandableifitisonlyPUTright。Thisisamostegregiousmistake，especiallyinrespecttothesubtleandcomplexspiritualexperienceswhichthemoredeeplysubjectivepoetryembodies。

WhatDeQuinceysaysinhispaperonKant，*ofthecomprehensionofthehigherphilosophicaltruths，can，withstillbetterreason，besaidoftheresponsivenesstothehigherspiritualtruths：”Nocomplexorveryimportanttruthwaseveryettransferredinfulldevelopmentfromonemindtoanother：truthofthatcharacterisnotapieceoffurnituretobeshifted；itisaseedwhichmustbesown，andpassthroughtheseveralstagesofgrowth。Nodoctrineofimportancecanbetransferredinamaturedshapeintoanyman’sunderstandingfromwithout：itmustarisebyanactofgenesiswithintheunderstandingitself。”——

*`LetterstoaYoungMan’。LetterV——

Andsoitmaybesaidinregardtotheresponsivenesstothehigherspiritualtruths——Idon’tsayCOMPREHENSIONofthehigherspiritualtruths(thatwordpertainsrathertoanintellectualgrasp)，butRESPONSIVENESStothehigherspiritualtruths。Spiritualtruthsmustbespirituallyrespondedto；

theyarenotandcannotbeintellectuallycomprehended。Theconditionofsuchresponsivenessitmayrequirealongwhiletofulfil。

Newattitudesofthesoul，ameta/noia，maybedemanded，beforesuchresponsivenessispossible。Andwhatsomepeoplemayregardinthehigherpoetryasobscure，byreasonofthemodeofitspresentationonthepartofthepoet，maybeonlyrelativelyso——thatis，theobscuritymaybewhollyduetothewrongattitudes，orthenoattitudes，oftheirownsouls，andtothelimitationsoftheirspiritualexperiences。Inthatcase”thepatientmustministertohimself”。

Whileonthesubjectof”obscurity”，ImustnoticeadifficultywhichthereaderatfirstexperiencesinhisstudyofBrowning’spoetry——adifficultyresultingfromthepoet’sfavoriteart-form，thedramaticorpsychologicmonologue。*Thelargestportionofhisvoluminouspoetryisinthisform。Somespeakerismadetorevealhischaracter，and，sometimes，byreflection，ordirectly，thecharacterofsomeoneelse——tosetforthsomesubtleandcomplexsoul-mood，somesupreme，all-determiningmovementorexperienceofalife；or，itmaybe，toRATIOCINATEsubtlyonsomecuriousquestionoftheology，morals，philosophy，orart。Nowitisinstrictlypreservingthemonologuecharacterthatobscurityoftenresults。Amonologueoftenbeginswithastartlingabruptness，andthereadermustreadalongsomedistancebeforehegatherswhatthebeginningmeans。

TakethemonologueofFraLippoLippiforexample。Thesituationisnecessarilyleftmoreorlessunexplained。Thepoetsaysnothing`inpropriapersona’，andnoreplyismadetothespeakerbythepersonorpersonsaddressed。Sometimesalook，agesture，oraremark，mustbesupposedonthepartoftheoneaddressed，whichoccasionsaresponsiveremark。SometimesthespeakerIMPUTES

aquestion；andthereaderissometimesobligedtostopandconsiderwhetheraquestionisimputedbythespeakertotheoneheisaddressing，orisadirectquestionofhisown。Thisisoftenthecasethroughout`TheRingandtheBook’。Buttotheinitiated，thesefeaturesofthemonologuepresentlittleornodifficulty，andtheyconducetogreatcompactnessofcomposition——

aclosenessoftexturewhichthereadercomesintimetoenjoy，andtoprefertoamorelooselywovendiction。

*Thedramaticmonologuediffersfromasoliloquyinthis：

whilethereisbutonespeaker，thepresenceofasilentsecondpersonissupposed，towhomtheargumentsofthespeakerareaddressed。

PerhapssuchasituationmaybetermedanoveltyofinventioninourPoet。Itisobviousthatthedramaticmonologuegainsoverthesoliloquyinthatitallowstheartistgreaterroominwhichtoworkouthisconceptionofcharacter。Wecannotgazelongatasolitaryfigureonacanvas，howeverpowerfullytreated，withoutfeelingsomeneedofrelief。Inthesamewayasoliloquy(comp。thegreatsoliloquiesofShakespeare)cannotbeprotractedtoanygreatlengthwithoutwearyingthelistener。Thethoughtsofamaninself-communionareapttoruninacertaincircle，andtoassumeamonotony。Theintroductionofasecondpersonactingpowerfullyuponthespeakerthroughout，drawsthelatterforthintoamorecompleteandvariedexpressionofhismind。

Thesilentpersoninthebackground，whomaybeallthetimemasterofthesituation，suppliesapowerfulstimulustotheimaginationofthereader——Rev。Prof。E。Johnson’s”Paperon`BishopBlougram’sApology’”(`BrowningSoc。Papers’，Pt。III。，p。279)——

Themonologueentitled`MyLastDuchess。Ferrara’isagoodexampleoftheconstitutionofthisart-form。Itisoneofthemostperfectinartistictreatment，andexhibitsallthefeaturesIhavejustnoticed。

Originally，thismonologueandthatnowentitled`CountGismond。

AixinProvence’，hadthecommontitle，`ItalyandFrance’，theformerbeingNo。I。Italy；thelatter，No。II。France。Thepoet，nodoubt，afterwardthoughtthattheDukeoftheonemonologue，andtheCountoftheother，couldnotjustlybepresentedasrepresentatives，respectively，ofItalyandFrance。

Ingivingthemonologuesnewtitles，`MyLastDuchess’and`CountGismond’，headdedtotheone，`Ferrara’，andtotheother，`AixinProvence’，thuslocallyrestrictingtheorderofcharacterwhichtheyseverallyrepresent。

In`MyLastDuchess’，thespeakerisasoullessVIRTUOSO——

anaturalproductofaproud，arrogant，andexclusivearistocracy，ontheonehand，andontheother，ofanoldandeffetecity，likeFerrara，whereart，ratherthanministeringtosoul-lifeandtruemanlinessofcharacter，hasbecomeanendtoitself——

isvaluedforitsownsake。

TheDukeisshowing，withtheweakprideofthemerevirtuoso，aportraitofhislastDuchess，tosomeonewhohasbeensenttonegotiateanothermarriage。Weseethatheishavinganentertainmentorreceptionofsomekindinhispalace，andthathehaswithdrawnfromthecompanywiththeenvoytothepicture-galleryonanupperfloor。Hehaspulledasidethecurtainfrombeforetheportrait，andinremarkingontheexpressionwhichtheartist，FraPandolf，hasgiventotheface，heismadetorevealafiendishjealousyonhispart，occasionedbythesweetnessandjoyousnessofhislateDuchess，who，hethought，shouldshowinterestinnothingbuthisownfossilizedself。”Shehad，”hesays，”aheart——

howshallIsay?——toosoonmadeglad，tooeasilyimpressed；

shelikedwhate’ershelookedon，andherlookswenteverywhere。

Sir，’twasallone！Myfavouratherbreast，thedroppingofthedaylightintheWest，theboughofcherriessomeofficiousfoolbrokeintheorchardforher，thewhitemulesherodewithroundtheterrace——allandeachwoulddrawfromheraliketheapprovingspeech，orblush，atleast。Shethankedmen，——good！

butthankedsomehow——Iknownothow——asifsherankedmygiftofanine-hundred-years-oldnamewithanybody’sgift。”

Herfreshinterestinthings，andthesweetsmileshehadforall，duetoageneroussoul-life，provedfataltothelovelyDuchess：”Ohsir，shesmiled，nodoubt，whene’erIpassedher；butwhopassedwithoutmuchthesamesmile?Thisgrew；Igavecommands；

thenallsmilesstoppedtogether。”

Hesucceeded，andheseemstobeproudofit，inshuttingoffallherlife-currents，pure，andfresh，andsparkling，astheywere，andwemustsupposethatshethansankslowlyanduncomplaininglyaway。

Whatadeeppathosthereisin”thenallsmilesstoppedtogether”！*——

*”Igavecommands”certainlymustnotbeunderstoodtomeancommandsforherdeath，asitisunderstoodbythewriterofthearticlesin`TheSaintPaul’sMagazine’forDecember，1870，andJanuary，1871。

{SeePreface：NotetotheThirdEdition。}——

Thecontemptiblemeannessandselfishnessofjealousywereneverexhibitedwithgreaterpower，thantheyareexhibitedinthisshortmonologue——apowerlargelyduetotheartistictreatment。

ThejealousyofLeontes，in`TheWinter’sTale’，ofShakespeare，isnobilityitself，incomparisonwiththeDuke’s。Howdistinctly，whileindirectly，thesweetDuchessis，withafewmasterlytouches，placedbeforeus！Thepoetshowshisartisticskillespeciallyinhisindirect，reflectedportraitures。

Thisshortcomposition，comprisingasitdoesbutfifty-sixlines，is，ofitself，sufficienttoprovethepoetaconsummateartist。

Tennyson’sTECHNIQUEisquiteperfect，almost”faultilyfaultless”，indeed；butinnooneofhiscompositionshasheshownanequaldegreeofart-power，inthehighestsenseoftheword。

{`MyLastDuchess’}”That’smylastDuchesspaintedonthewall，Lookingasifshewerealive。IcallThatpieceawonder，now：FraPandolf’shandsWorkedbusilyaday，andthereshestands。

Will’tpleaseyousitandlookather?Isaid，`FraPandolf’bydesign：forneverreadStrangerslikeyouthatpicturedcountenance，Thedepthandpassionofitsearnestglance，Buttomyselftheyturned(sincenoneputsbyThecurtainIhavedrawnforyou，butI)

Andseemedastheywouldaskme，iftheydurst，Howsuchaglancecamethere；so，notthefirstAreyoutoturnandaskthus。Sir，’twasnotHerhusband’spresenceonly，calledthatspotOfjoyintotheDuchess’cheek：perhapsFraPandolfchancedtosay`HermantlelapsOvermylady’swristtoomuch’，or`PaintMustneverhopetoreproducethefaintHalf-flushthatdiesalongherthroat’：suchstuffWascourtesy，shethought，andcauseenoughForcallingupthatspotofjoy。ShehadAheart——howshallIsay?——toosoonmadeglad，Tooeasilyimpressed；shelikedwhate’erShelookedon，andherlookswenteverywhere。

Sir，’twasallone！Myfavouratherbreast，ThedroppingofthedaylightintheWest，TheboughofcherriessomeofficiousfoolBrokeintheorchardforher，thewhitemuleSherodewithroundtheterrace——allandeachWoulddrawfromheraliketheapprovingspeech，Orblush，atleast。Shethankedmen，——good！butthankedSomehow——Iknownothow——asifsherankedMygiftofanine-hundred-years-oldnameWithanybody’sgift。Who’dstooptoblameThissortoftrifling?EvenhadyouskillInspeech——(whichIhavenot)——tomakeyourwillQuitecleartosuchanone，andsay，`JustthisOrthatinyoudisgustsme；hereyoumiss，Orthereexceedthemark’——andifsheletHerselfbelessonedso，norplainlysetHerwitstoyours，forsooth，andmadeexcuse，——E’enthenwouldbesomestooping；andIchooseNevertostoop。Ohsir，shesmiled，nodoubt，Whene’erIpassedher；butwhopassedwithoutMuchthesamesmile?Thisgrew；Igavecommands；

Thenallsmilesstoppedtogether。ThereshestandsAsifalive。Will’tpleaseyourise?We’llmeetThecompanybelow，then。Irepeat，TheCountyourmaster’sknownmunificenceIsamplewarrantthatnojustpretenceOfminefordowrywillbedisallowed；

Thoughhisfairdaughter’sself，asIavowedAtstarting，ismyobject。Nay，we’llgoTogetherdown，sir。NoticeNeptune，though，Tamingasea-horse，thoughtararity，WhichClausofInnsbruckcastinbronzeforme！*——

*ClausofInnsbruckandalsoFraPandolf(v。3)areimaginaryartists。