第18章

Lo，whatisthishemeets，strainsonwardstill?

Whatotherman，deepfurtherinthefate，Who，turningattheprizeofafoot-fallToflatterhimandpromisefellowship，Discoversintheactafrightfulface——

Judas，mademonstrousbymuchsolitude！

Thetwoareatonenow！LetthemlovetheirloveThatbitesandclawslikehate，orhatetheirhateThatmopsandmowsandmakesasitwerelove！

There，letthemeachteareachindevil’s-fun，Orfondlethistheotherwhilemaliceaches——

Bothteach，bothlearndetestability！

Kisshimthekiss，Iscariot！Paythatback，Thatsmatcho’theslaverblisteringonyourlip——

Bythebettertrick，theinsulthesparedChrist——

Lurehimthelureo’theletters，Aretine！

Lickhimo’erslimy-smoothwithjelly-filthO’theverse-and-prosepollutioninlove’sguise！

Thecockatriceiswiththebasilisk！

Therelethimgrapple，denizenso’thedark，Foesorfriends，butindissolublybound，IntheironespotoutofthekenofGodOrcareofmanforeverandevermore！”

Browninghasdistinctlyindicatedthestandardbywhichheestimatesart-work，intheclosingparagraphofhisEssay`OnthePoetobjectiveandsubjective；onthelatter’saim；

onShelleyasmanandpoet’。”Iwouldrather，”hesays，”considerShelley’spoetryasasublimefragmentaryessaytowardsapresentmentofthecorrespondencyoftheuniversetoDeity，ofthenaturaltothespiritual，andoftheactualtotheideal，thanIwouldisolateandseparatelyappraisetheworthofmanydetachableportionswhichmightbeacknowledgedASUTTERLYPERFECTINALOWER

MORALPOINTOFVIEW，UNDERTHEMERECONDITIONSOFART。

ItwouldbeeasytotakemystandonsuccessfulinstancesofobjectivityinShelley：thereistheunrivalled`Cenci’；thereisthe`JulianandMaddalo’too；thereisthemagnificent`OdetoNaples’：

whynotregard，itmaybesaid，thelessorganizedmatterastheradiantelementalfoamandsolution，outofwhichwouldhavebeenevolved，eventually，creationsasperfectevenasthose?

ButIprefertolookforthehighestattainment，notsimplythehigh，——and，seeingit，Iholdbyit。Thereissurelyenoughofthework`Shelley’tobeknownenduringlyamongmen，and，Ibelieve，tobeacceptedofGod，ashumanworkmay；andAROUNDTHEIMPERFECT

PROPORTIONSOFSUCH，THEMOSTELABORATEDPRODUCTIONSOFORDINARYART

MUSTARRANGETHEMSELVESASINFERIORILLUSTRATIONS。”

Theitalicsaremine。Iwouldsay，butwithoutadmittingimperfectartonthepartofBrowning，forIregardhimasoneofthegreatestofliteraryartists，thatHEmustbeestimatedbythestandardpresentedinthispassage，bythe”presentment”，everywhereinhispoetry，”ofthecorrespondencyoftheuniversetoDeity，ofthenaturaltothespiritual，andoftheactualtotheideal。”

Thesamestandardispresentedin`AndreadelSarto’，in`OldPicturesinFlorence’，andinotherofhispoems。

V。ArgumentsofthePoems。

*Ithasnotbeenthoughtnecessary，intheseArguments，tousequotationmarkswhereverexpressionsfromthepoemsareincorporated；andespeciallywheretheyareadaptedinconstructiontotheplacewheretheyareintroduced。

Wantingis——What?”Love，thesoulofsoul，withinthesoul”，theChrist-spirit，thespiritofthe”Comer”(o`e’rxo/menos，Matt。11：3)，completesincompletion，reanimatesthatwhichwithoutitisdead，andadmitstoafellowshipwiththesoulofthings；`Ubicaritas，ibiclaritas’。Seepassagefrom`FifineattheFair’，quotedunder`MyStar’。

MyStar。

Thefollowingpassagefrom`FifineattheFair’，section55，isanexpansionoftheideainvolvedin`MyStar’，andisthebestcommentarywhichcanbegivenonit：——”IsearchbutcannotseeWhatpurposeservesthesoulthatstrives，orworldittriesConclusionswith，unlessthefruitofvictoriesStay，oneandall，storedupandguaranteeditsownForever，bysomemodewherebyshallbemadeknownThegainofeverylife。Deathreadsthetitleclear——

Whateachsoulforitselfconqueredfromoutthingshere：

Since，INTHESEEINGSOUL，ALLWORTHLIES，IASSERT，——

ANDNOUGHTI’THEWORLD，WHICH，SAVEFORSOULTHATSEES，INERT

WAS，IS，ANDWOULDBEEVER，——STUFFFORTRANSMUTING——NULL

ANDVOIDUNTILMAN’SBREATHEVOKETHEBEAUTIFUL——

BUT，TOUCHEDARIGHT，PROMPTYIELDSEACHPARTICLE，ITSTONGUE

OFELEMENTALFLAME，——nomatterwhenceflamesprungFromgumsandspice，orelsefromstrawandrottenness，Solongassoulhaspowertomakethemburn，expressWhatlightsandwarmshenceforth，leavesonlyashbehind，Howe’erthechance：ifsoulbeprivilegedtofindFoodsosoonthat，atfirstsnatchofeye，suckofbreath，Itshallabsorbpurelife：”etc。

TheFlightoftheDuchess。

In`TheFlightoftheDuchess’wearepresentedwithageneroussoul-life，asexhibitedbythesweet，gladDuchess，linkedwithfossilconventionalismandmediaevalsim，andaninheritedauthoritywhichbrooksnosubmissiveness，asexhibitedbytheDuke，herhusband，”outofwhoseveinsceremonyandpridehavedriventheblood，leavinghimbutafumigatedandembalmedself”。Thesceneofthepoemisa”roughnorthland”，subjecttoaKaiserofGermany。Thestoryissoplainlytoldthatnoprosesummaryofitcouldmakeitplainer。Itsdeepermeaningcentresintheincantationoftheoldgypsywoman，inwhichismysticallyshadowedforththelongandpainfuldisciplinethroughwhichthesoulmustpassbeforebeingfullyadmittedtothedivinearcanum，”howloveistheonlygoodintheworld”。

Thepoemisonewhichreadilylendsitselftoanallegoricalinterpretation。Forsuchaninterpretation，thereaderisreferredtoMrs。Owen’spaper，readbeforetheBrowningSocietyofLondon，andcontainedintheSociety’sPapers，PartIV。，pp。49*etseq。

Itistoolongtobegivenhere。

TheLastRideTogether。”Thespeakerisamanwhohastogiveupthewomanheloves；

buthisloveisprobablyreciprocated，howeverinadequately，forhisappealfor`alastridetogether’isgranted。

Thepoemreflectshischangingmoodsandthoughtsas`hereweareriding，sheandI’。`FailIaloneinwordsanddeeds?

Why，allmenstrive，andwhosucceeds?’Careers，evencareerscalled`successful’，passinreview——statesmen，poets，sculptors，musicians——eachfailsinhisideal，foridealsarenotattainableinthislifeofincompletions。Butfaithgainssomethingforaman。

Hehaslovedthiswoman。Thatissomethinggained。Ifthislifegaveall，whatweretheretolookforwardto?`Now，heavenandshearebeyondthisride。’Again，——andthisishisclosingreflection，——”`Whatifheavenbe，that，fairandstrong’”，etc——

BrowningSoc。Papers，V。，144*。

BytheFireside。

PerhapsinnootherofMr。Browning’spoemsarethespiritualusesof”theloveofweddedsouls”morefullysetforththaninthepoem，`BytheFireside’。

TheMonologueisaddressedbyahappyhusbandtohis”perfectwife，myLeonor”。Helooksforwardtowhathewilldowhenthelong，darkautumneveningscome——theeveningsofdecliningage，whenthepleasanthueofhissoulshallhavedimmed，andthemusicofallitsspringandsummervoicesshallbedumbinlife’sNovember。

Inhis”wakingdreams”hewill”liveo’eragain”thehappylifehehasspentwithhislovedandlovingcompanion。Passingoutwherethebackwardvistaends，hewillsurvey，withher，thepleasantwoodthroughwhichtheyhavejourneyedtogether。

Tothehazel-treesofEngland，wheretheirchildhoodpassed，succeedsararersort，till，bygreendegrees，theyatlastslopetoItaly，andyouth，——Italy，thewoman-country，lovedbyearth’smale-lands。Shebeingthetrustedguide，theystandatlastintheheartofthings，theheapedanddimwoodsallaroundthem，thesingleandslimthreadofwaterslippingfromslabtoslab，theruinedchapelperchedhalf-wayupintheAlpinegorge，reachedbytheone-archedbridgewherethewaterisstoppedinastagnantpond，wherealldaylongabirdsings，andastraysheepdrinksattimes。Here，whereatafternoon，oralmosteve，thesilencegrowsconscioustothatdegree，onehalffeelsitmustgetridofwhatitknows，theywalkedsidebyside，arminarm，andcheektocheek；

crosssilentthecrumblingbridge，pityandpraisethesweetchapel，readthedeadbuilder’sdate，’five，six，nine，recrossthebridge，takethepathagain——butwait！Ohmomentoneandinfinite！thewestistender，withitsonestar，thechrysolite！thesightsandsounds，thelightsandshades，makeupaspell；amomentafter，andunseenhandsarehangingthenightaroundthemfast，buttheyknowthatabarhasbeenbrokenbetweenlifeandlife，thattheyaremixedatlastinspiteofthemortalscreen。”Theforestshaddoneit；theretheystood；

Wecaughtforamomentthepowersatplay：

Theyhadmingledusso，foronceandforgood，Theirworkwasdone——wemightgoorstay，Theyrelapsedtotheirancientmood。”

Browningeverywherelaysgreatstressonthosemomentsofexaltedfeeling，whenthesoulhasanuncheckedplayandisrevealedtoitself。SeeinthesectionoftheIntroductiononPersonalityandArt，thepassagequotedfromtheCanon’sMonologuein`TheRingandtheBook’，andtheremarksonconversion。

Mr。Nettleship，inhis`EssaysonBrowning’sPoetry’，hastracedsomewhatminutelythesymbolicalmeaningwhichheseesinthesceneryandcircumstancesof`BytheFireside’。

ReadersarereferredtotheseEssays。

Prospice。

Thespeakerinthisnoblemonologueisonewho，havingfoughtagoodfightandfinishedhiscourse，livedandwroughtthoroughlyinsense，andsoul，andintellect，isnowreadyandeagertoencounterthe`Arch-Fear’，Death；andthenhewillclaspagainhisBeloved，thesoulofhissoul，whohasgonebefore。HeleavestheresttoGod。

Withthismonologueshouldbereadthemysticaldescription，in`ThePassingofArthur’(Tennyson’sIdyllsoftheKing)，of”thelast，dim，weirdbattleofthewest”，beginning，——”Adeathwhitemistsleptoversandandsea。”

Amphibian。

ThispoemisthePrologueto`FifineattheFair’。

Amphibianisonewhounitesbothliveswithinhimself，thematerialandthespiritual，incompleteconcordandmutualsubservience——

onewho”livesandlikeslife’sway”，andcanalsofreehimselfoftether，leavethesolidland，and，unabletofly，swim”inthespherewhichoverbrimswithpassionandthought”，——

thesphereofpoetry。SuchanonemaybesaidtobeBrowning’sidealman。”Thevalueandsignificanceofflesh”iseverywhererecognizedinhispoetry。”Allgoodthingsareours，”RabbiBenEzraismadetosay，”norsoulhelpsfleshmore，now，thanfleshhelpssoul。”

Thefullphysicallife，initsrelationtothespiritual，wasnevermorebeautifullysungthanitissungbyDavid，inthepoemof`Saul’。Seethepassagebeginning，”Oh！ourmanhood’sprimevigor！”andthepassagein`Balaustion’sAdventure’，descriptiveofHercules，ashereturns，afterhisconflictwithDeath，leadingbackAlkestis。

JamesLee’sWife。

Theoriginaltitlein`DramatisPersonae’(firstpublishedin1864)

was`JamesLee’。

Thepoemconsistsofasuccessionofsoliloquies(ratherthanmonologues*)，separated，itmustbesupposed，bylongerorshorterintervalsoftime，andexpressiveofsubjectivestatesinducedinawifewhosehusband’slove，ifiteverwerelove，indeed，graduallydeclinestoapathyandfinallyentiredeadness。WhatmannerofmanJamesLeewas，isonlyfaintlyintimated。Theinterestcentresin，iswhollyconfinedto，theexperiencesofthewife’sheart，underthecircumstances，whatevertheywere——

*Forthedistinctionbetweenthesoliloquyandthemonologue，seethepassagegiveninanote，fromRev。Prof。Johnson’spaperon`BishopBlougram’sApology’，underthetreatmentofthemonologue，p。85{partIIIofIntro。}。