Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,
Miles and miles
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep
Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop--
Was the site once of a city great and gay,
(So they say)...
(pg 668, lines 1-8)
In this particular poem, Robert Browning showcases his love for his country and his hope for peace in the midst of a war that is quickly transforming his country's beauty into what he calls ruins. As shown in the lines above, Browning describes the greatness of his country prior to entering war, only later to tell how it has been mutilated by the fighting of the opposing forces at war. According to Browning, his country was once bountiful with vegetation. Consequently, a war that he does not aree with has changed it for the worst.
Oh heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!
Earth's returns
For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!
Shut them in,
With their triumphs and their glories and the rest!
Love is best.
(pg 670, lines 79-84)
I believe that Browning's tone has changed dramatically in the lines above. His tone has gone from being calm and descriptive to being exclamatory, full of emotion, and heartfelt. It seems to me that he has had enough of this war destroying the land and is begging for its end. I think that he is begging to a higher power that the war be ended and the opposing forces make amends and bestow peace upon the land.
In my opinion, Browning seems to be more of a peace maker. I feel as though this poem shows that he would rather go through all of the necessary alternatives before actually turning to war. The very last line of the poem, "Love is best;" (pg 670, line 84) shows me that Browning was a sensitive man that was against violence. I strongly feel that if there were more men similar to Browning throughout history, yet in powerful positions, there would have been a lot less fighting a more alliances being formed. Today, the world needs more men like Browning to take authority. As a result, there would be more peace and less war between the nations.
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1 comment:
Mishawn,
Good focus and exploration of Browning's poem in this post. I think it is a good practice to quote and analyze a particular poem, as you do here. One caution, though: Browning is not the narrator of this poem, and it is set in Italy, which was not his country. On the other hand, he was probably in Italy when he wrote it, and he did have positive associations with that country.
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