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Robert Browning: Glimpses of His Life & Works

Robert Browning: Some Glimpses from his Life & Works

Robert Browning: Some Glimpses from his Life & Works

Robert Browning, best known for his dramatic monologues, was an eminent poet of the nineteenth century. He did not achieve fame all of a sudden. In fact, he had to struggle to make his name shine in the galaxy of the poets of eminence in English Literature.

Let’s have a microscopic view of his life of works.

He was born on May 7, 1812 in Camberwell, London. His father was a senior clerk in a bank and mother an excellent pianist (/ˈpiː.ən.ɪst/ ) and there would be no exaggeration if we say that he inherited love for music from his mother. He developed his love for reading books because there was his father’s a big library in the house.

He wrote his first poem Pauline A Fragment of a Confession in 1833, when he was too young, so the poem proved to be an open expression of his feelings. In a way, he lays his soul bare to a patient heroine.

J. S. Mill (John Stuart Mill) commented on this poem: “…that the poet in this poem possessed with a more intense and morbid self-consciousness than I ever knew in any sane human being.”

These lines forced Robert Browning to think about the short-comings that J. S. Mill had pointed out. He decided never to be personal so much openly in his poems.  He would only “make men and women speak” in his poems.

He proved his promise in his next long poem Paracelsus (1835). The hero in this poem was a Renaissance Alchemist (one who produces chemicals)

Browning called this poem ‘a failure’ and in spite of that, he received favourable reviews. He gained friendship with the authors like William Wordsworth, Thomas Carlyle and with actor William C. Macready.

It gave Robert Browning a moral boost to expand his social circle. The actor William C. Macready encouraged him to try his pen in writing drama verses. Thus, he wrote his first drama Strafford (1837) and it could not have more than five performances. In all, he wrote six dramas and it took his ten years more. But none of them could bring sufficient success to him. His  another poem Sordello, written in 1840, too, was a failure. It gave a big blow to his growing reputation. Critics called the poem in a voice obscure (unintelligible) and unreadable. Even the poem is understandable for the modern reader.

The failure of Strafford and Sordello forced Robert Browning to shift to another genre of writing i. e. drama verses. Thus we had successful poems like Pippa Passes (1841) and two collections of shorter poems, Dramatic Lyrics (1842) and Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845)

His dramatic monologues are usually written in blank verse.

My Last Duchess, Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, The Bishop orders His Tomb, The Last Ride Together, Rabbi ben Ezra, Andrea del Sarto, etc.

Robert Browning was married to Elizabeth Barrette. 

In May 1845, he met her and very soon they discovered love for each other. Both the lovers had to marry secretly because Elizabeth Barrette’s father was against their marriage.

Browning’s mature poetry came in 1855 with the publication of Man and Woman, a collection of 51 poems. It made him the idol of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

After that, his health kept declining for several years. Elizabeth Barrette Browning died on June 29, 1861. After that, he left Florence and came to live in England.

He published Dramatis Personae in 1864. It spite of some of the dramatic monologues to be complex and overlong, this was the first of Browning’s works that succeeded to become popular with the readers.

His popularity increased with the publication of The Ring and the Book in 1868-1869. This poem was a long dramatic  narrative poem in 12 books. This book was enthusiastically received by the public. Robert Browning became a prominent figure in London society. He was now a frequent guest at dinners, concerts and receptions.

In the next ten years, he published a volume almost every year. By 1870, he had achieved equal status with Tennyson, the poet laureate.

Although Browning could not receive his due in his own time, yet he is very popular with the modern readers. For this, credit goes to Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot.

He died on Dec 12, 1889 at his son’s home in Venice.

In the epilogue to his last collection of lyrics, Browning described himself as “One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, …”

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Some Multiple Choice Questions on the poems of Class XII

Some Multiple Choice Questions on the poems of Class XII

My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

Q1. To which place the poetess Kamala Das is going along with her mother in a car?

1.   Chennai

2.   Bengluru

3.   Cochin

4.   Trivendrum

Q2. From which poem the following lines have been taken?

“…see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile.”

1.    Keeping Quiet

2.  Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

3.  The Roadside Stand

4.  My Mother at Sixty-six

Q3. What was the childhood fear that poetess Kamala Das talks about in her poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?

1.   She had fear of punishment from her father.

2.   She had fear of being punished by her teacher.

3.   She had the fear of having nightmares at night.

4.   She had the fear of being separated from her mother.

Q4. How did the poetess Kamala Das discard her fear and worry after seeing deathlike paleness on her mother’s face?

1.   She looked outside the car.

2.   She started listening to music.

3.   She stopped the car and came out of it.

4.   She woke up her mother.

Q5. Who is the poet of the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?

1.   Pablo Neruda

2.   Stephen Spender

3.   Gabriel Okara

4.   Kamala Das

 Answers:   Q1. -3     Q2.-4     Q3.-4     Q4.-1     Q5-4

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The Invisible Man: H G Wells: Fast Track Summary: Chapter 1 to 6 in English

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A Visit to An Optometrist

A Visit to an Optometrist                Comprehension (Page 155)

QA. Questions and Answers

1.What was the eagle family cribbing (feeling extremely boring) about?

Ans. The eagle family was cribbing about wheelbarrows.

2.Who was Harry? What did he worry about?

Ans. Harry was the father eagle. He was worried about Molly’s (the mother eagle’s) eyesight that was deteriorating (getting worsened) day by day.

3. How did Harry make use of the wheelbarrow?

Ans. He used to relax in it.

4. How far away was the optometrist’s clinic?

Ans. It was a couple of miles away from their nest.

5. What was the consultation fee? Why did Molly find it difficult to keep a doctor’s appointment?

Ans. It was a couple of mongoose. It was difficult for Molly to visit the doctor due to her routine household work (chores).

6. What was Molly proud of? What did Harry make her understand?

Ans. Molly was proud of her looks. Harry made her understand that her eyesight was more important than her looks.

QB. Do it yourself.

QC. Who said these words to whom?

1.‘Are we to loll all day in wheelbarrows on an empty stomach?’

Ans. Letty, the daughter, said these words to Molly, her mother.

2. “Haven’t we been doing this for the past three days?”

Ans. Laddie, the son, said these words to Molly, his mother.

3. “His clinic is on the same mountain range.”

Ans. Harry said these words to Molly, his wife.

4. “Now that’s a bit too much, isn’t it?”

Ans. Molly said these words to the optometrist.

5. “Carcasses (dead bodies) of four jerboas (rats)”

Ans. Optometrist said these words to Molly.

QD Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow:

Extract A: Molly went about her household chores…..

1, Why did Molly push the wheelbarrow over the edge?

Ans. Molly had listened too much about the wheelbarrow. So she pushed it over the edge to show her displeasure.

2.Why was Molly going about the chores so happily?

Ans. Molly was doing about her chores so happily at the prospect (hope) of bringing fresh food for the eaglets due to her improved eyesight.

3. Why did she keep aside the carcasses of jerboas (a type of rats)?

Ans. She kept them aside to pay the price of a pair of contact lens.

4. Why did Molly clean out the larder (pantry, foodstore)?

Ans. She hoped to bring fresh food for the eaglets after having a pair of contact lens on her eyes.

5. How did Molly prepare their beds?

Ans. She threw out old leaves from their beds and placed on them new ones (leaves) that smelt fresh and looked clean.

Extract B

“I suggest you get yourself a pair of spectacles…………………………………………….you see through three years.”

1.Who is ‘I’? What did he suggest would be comfortable?

Ans. “I” is the optometrist. He suggested to Molly that contact lenses would be comfortable for her.

2. What would be the cost of a pair of contact lens? What was the guarantee?

Ans. Carcasses (dead bodies) of four jerboas would be the cost of a pair of contact lens. They had three-year guarantee.

3. What would a pair of interior (low) quality lens cost? What was the guarantee?

Ans. It would cost just two mice with no guarantee.

4. Explain ‘carcasses’ and ‘jerboas’.

Ans. Carcasses mean dead bodies of animals. Jerboas are rodents.

5. What made Molly visit the optometrist?

Ans. Molly’s deteriorating eyesight made her visit the optometrist.

Virtually True Video 1 of 3 (A Sample Video)

Nichlas Nye by Walter de la Mare Line-to-line Explanation: (For Grade VIII)

Poem: Nichlas Nye by Walter de la Mare

Line-to-line Explanation:

Stanza 1

Thistle and darnell and dock grew there,
And a bush, in the corner, of may,
On the orchard wall I used to sprawl
In the blazing heat of the day; 

Word-meanings: 1. Thistle:  It is a kind of plant with pink flowers

 2. Darnell         plant with flowers 3. Dock  It is also a plant.   4.  Bush: A thick growth of plants is called a bush 4. Orchard: a group of fruit trees is called an orchard 5. Sprawl: to lie down in a relaxing manner:     5.
5. Blazing: very bright/shining and hot

Explanation: The poet describes a meadow where plants and bushes like thistle, Darnell and Dock grew in a corner in the month of May. The poet lay (sprawled) there on the wall of an orchard in the shining heat of the sun.

Stanza 2.

Half asleep and half awake,
While the birds went twittering by,
And nobody there my lone to share
But Nicholas Nye. 

Word-meanings: 1. Twitter: it is the sound created by birds while they communicate with other birds of their species 2. Lone: loneliness 3. But: Here, it means except

Explanation: The poet lay on the wall of the orchard in a relaxed mode (manner) and he was not fully asleep (half asleep and half awake). The birds went by flying twittering.

“And nobody there my lone to share
But Nicholas Nye: Nobody was there in the corner to share the poet’s loneliness except the donkey Nicholas Rye.

Stanza 3

Nicholas Nye was lean and gray,
Lame of leg and old,
More than a score of donkey's years
He had been since he was foaled;
He munched the thistles, purple and spiked,
Would sometimes stoop and sigh,
And turn his head, as if he'd said,
'Poor Nicholas Nye! ' 

Word-meanings: 1. A score: It includes twenty things 2. Foaled: Here it means ‘born’ 3. Munch: chewed 4. Spiked: sharp, pointed  5. Stoop: to bow or bend down 6. Sigh: to take a long breath and release it 6. Lame: a defective leg

Explanation: In this stanza, the poet begins to describe the donkey’s physical structure. Nocholas Nye was thin and bent down with gray coloured hair on his body. Its body leaned a little due to his lame (defective) leg. He was old and had crossed more than twenty years since he was born. He would munch (eat and chew) the pointed leaves and purple flowers of the thistle plant. He would sometimes bend down his head, sigh (take a long breath and then release it) as to feel pity on his own miserable (very bad) condition and turning his head would say ‘Poor Nicholas Nye’.

Stanza 4
Alone with his shadow he'd drowse in the meadow,
Lazily swinging his tail,
At break of day he used to bray,-
Not much too hearty and hale;
But a wonderful gumption was under his skin,
And a clean calm light in his eye,
And once in a while; he'd smile:-
Would Nicholas Nye. 

Word-meanings:  drowse:  to feel sleepy, doze  2. Swinging : moving to and fro 3. Bray: sound created by a donkey   4. hearty and hale: hale and hearty: used to show that one is quite healthy  5. Gumption: here it means courage and boldness   6. Calm: peaceful/peace 7. Once in a while: sometimes, not very often

Explanation:  The donkey would stand alone in the meadow and drowse swinging his tail here and there lazily. No other donkey is there to accompany him except his own shadow. The lines lay stress on his loneliness. At the sunrise (break of the day), as it is natural for all donkeys to bray, but his bray was not full of energy and liveliness. It showed that the donkey was not hale and hearty i.e. healthy. In spite of all miseries and poor health, the donkey had one thing special in him. It was his boldness to make a smile showing a curious (keen) and peaceful light in his eyes.

 Stanza 5.

Seem to be smiling at me, he would,
From his bush in the corner, of may,-
Bony and ownerless, widowed and worn,
Knobble-kneed, lonely and gray;
And over the grass would seem to pass
'Neath the deep dark blue of the sky,
Something much better than words between me
And Nicholas Nye. 

Word-meanings:

Stanza 6

1.Ownerless: without owner  2. Widowed:  The person whose husband or wife has died. Here it means without companion        3.worn: tired 4.   Knobble-kneed: the word is 5.'Neath: the word is beneath that means below, under knobby which means like a knob, the handle fixed on a door. It means twisted and kneed means that the donkey’s knees are twisted and bent due to weakness and tiredness.   

Explanation: The poet says that the donkey seemed to smile at him from the bush in a corner where he often stood. He was so thin that bones were visible from his body. No person owned it and he had no companion of his own species, He looked tired and bent down due to weak body. He was quite alone there in the corner on the grass he would pass night below the deep and dark blue coloured sky.

In the next line ‘Something much better than words between me
And Nicholas Nye.’, the poet seems to suggest that there is an emotional bond between the poet and the donkey, Nicholas Nye and it could not be expressed through words.

Stanza 6

But dusk would come in the apple boughs,
The green of the glow-worm shine,
The birds in nest would crouch to rest,
And home I'd trudge to mine;
And there, in the moonlight, dark with dew,
Asking not wherefore nor why,
Would brood like a ghost, and as still as a post,
Old Nicholas Nye. 

Word-meanings: 1.  Boughs: /baʊs/ a large branch of a tree 2. glow-worm a beetle, the females and young of which produce a green light from the tail 3. Trudge: to walk slowly with a lot of effort 4. Dew: a drop of water that is formed during night on the leaves of plants, trees and other things 5. Brood: to keep thinking in a worried and trouble manner 6. Wherefore: for what reason 7. Dusk: evening time after the sun-set

Explanation: After the sunset, the time of dusk would come in the long branches of the apple trees in the orchard. As the darkness spread the green glow of the beetles like glowworm would begin to shine. Birds also would crouch (bend down) in their nests to take rest at night. The poet also would trudge (walk in a tired way) to his home. And there in the moonlight that is mixed with darkness and dampness of the falling dews, the donkey Nicholas Rye would stand and brood (think deeply) alone as still (fixed) as a post. Its figure would look like a ghost in the dewy atmosphere if watched from a distance.

Questions & Answers

QA. Answer the following:

1.At what time of day and where would the poet sprawl?

Ans. The poet lay (sprawled) there on the wall of the orchard in the shining heat of the sun. The time has not been mentioned in the poem, but it was when there was the blazing heat of the day.

2.How can you say that Nicholas Nye felt sorry for himself?

Ans. Nicholas Nye would sometimes bend his head, heave a deep sigh and turn his head. It seemed as if he felt sorry for his miserable condition.

3.What would Nicholas Nye do in the meadow? How would his mood be?

Ans. Nicholas lived there in the meadow for day and night. It would munch the grass and the weeds grown over there to satisfy his hunger. His mood would was always sad in spite of his occasional (rare) smiles.

4.How has the poet described Nicholas?

Ans. The donkey was a victim of loneliness. He had no companion to break the boredom of his dull and monotonous (boring) life. Nicholas Nye was old, lean (bent down) and thin, lame of a leg and grey coloured ownerless donkey. He did not get sufficient grass there, so his body was weak and without energy. 

5.Explain the last stanza of the poem, Nicholas Nye.

Ans. After the sunset, the time of dusk would come in the long branches of the apple trees in the orchard. As the darkness spread, the green glow of the glowworm would begin to shine. Birds also would crouch (bend down) in their nests to take rest at night. The poet also would trudge (walk in a tired way) to his home. And there in the moonlight mixed with darkness and dampness of the falling dews, the donkey Nicholas Rye would stand and brood (think deeply) alone as still (fixed) as a post (a pole). Its figure would look like a ghost in the dewy atmosphere if watched from a distance.

QB & QC: for self practice

QD. Extract ‘A’

And there, in the moonlight, dark with dew,
Asking not wherefore nor why,
Would brood like a ghost, and as still as a post,
Old Nicholas Nye. 

1.What time of day is it?

Ans. It is night.

2. Who is as still as a post? Why?

Ans. Nicholas Nye is as still as a post because it is night and he might be in sleep. Horses and donkeys sleep while standing still.

3. Explain ‘wherefore’?

Ans. Wherefore means for what reason or why. The poet uses this word in the last stanza. When the poet starts moving back to his house, the donkey does not ask the poet as to why (wherefore) he was going leaving him alone in the meadow.

4. Mention the two similes used?

Ans. (i) brood like a ghost (ii) as still as a post

In a simile, ‘as’, ‘as….as’, and ‘like’ are used to show a comparison between two different things.

5. Name the poems and the poet.

Ans. The poem is Nicholas Nye and its poet is Walter de La Mare.

Extract ‘B’

Half asleep and half awake,
While the birds went twittering by,
And nobody there my lone to share
But Nicholas Nye. 

1.Who is uttering these words?

Ans. The poet ‘Walter de la Mare’ is uttering (saying) these words.

2. Who shared the poet’s loneliness?

Ans. Nicholas Nye, the donkey shared the poet’s loneliness.

3. What time of day is it? How do you know?

Ans. It is noon time because there was the blazing heat of the sun. 

4. Explain ‘twittering’.

Ans. ‘Twittering’ is a series of short and high sound made by a bird. When the poet lay on the wall of the orchard, he also listened to the twittering of birds coming from here and there.

5. What is the meaning of the dusk?

Ans. It is the time before night and after sunset when the darkness has not spread everywhere.

Summary of the Poem: Nicholas Nye by Walter de la Mare (For Grade VIII)

                         Summary:  Nicholas Nye by Walter de la Mare

Walter de La Mare

This poem is about a donkey, named Nicholas Nye, which lives in a meadow (grazing land) in an orchard (garden of fruit trees). It seems that the poet used to visit that place to relax himself and lie down on the wall of the orchard. He would watch the donkey from there.

Nicholas Rye

                                                         Meadow

One day, the poet is inspired to write a poem on the donkey. The poet had a very minute (including very small detail) study of the donkey and a lot of sympathy for the poor animal. The poet personifies the donkey in order to treat it in human terms and give equal status to it like that of a human being on this planet, Earth.

We come to know after going through the poem that the donkey was a victim of loneliness. He passed his days and nights in a pasture (meadow/grassland). He had no companion to break the boredom of his dull and monotonous (boring) life.

Nicholas Nye was old, lean (bent down) and thin, lame of a leg and grey coloured ownerless donkey.  He was there in the pasture since his birth and no one liked to be his owner because of his lame leg. So he was left to the circumstances only. He lived on by munching (eating) bushes, thistles, darnell and dock, etc.

             

Thistles

Darnell Plant and Flower

Dock Plant

Whenever he felt sleepy, he lay there in the blazing (bright and hot) heat of the sun and drowse. Sometimes, he seemed to stoop (bend down) and sigh (take a long breath) as if he wanted to release the tension by calling himself ‘Poor Nicholas Nye’. He did not get sufficient grass there, so his body was weak and without energy. When he brayed at the daybreak, he was unable to create a heavy and energetic sound.

Sometimes, the donkey seemed to smile at the poet. It meant that the poet had developed kinship with the donkey and felt sympathetic to his miserable condition. The poet came back home in the evening leaving the Nicholas alone in the moonlight standing there still (motionless) like a post.

Thus the poem sensitises the students’ empathy (ability to understand the difficulties of others/sympathy) particularly for the domestic animals who are left to their fate (chance/destiny). It also gives the message that we all human beings must have sympathy for the animals also.