Robert Browning

LitCharts guides for works by Robert Browning

Explore LitCharts poetry guides for works by Robert Browning. Each guide offers line-by-line analysis, exploration of poetic devices, and helpful resources for studying Robert Browning's poetry.

A Face

"A Face" is Robert Browning's subtly unnerving reflection on male attitudes toward female beauty. The poem's speaker reverently describes a lady's lovely face, imagining that she'd have made a perf... view guide

A Light Woman

Robert Browning's "A Light Woman" is a dramatic monologue about love, friendship, and deceit, told from the perspective of a man who betrays his friend by seducing the woman he loves. The speaker j... view guide

A Toccata of Galuppi's

"A Toccata of Galuppi's," a dramatic monologue by the Victorian poet Robert Browning, tells a tale of music's transporting power. As he listens to a performance of a toccata (a virtuosic solo compo... view guide

A Woman's Last Word

Robert Browning's "A Woman's Last Word" is a dramatic monologue told from the perspective of a woman who wants to stop bickering with her lover and go to sleep. She explains that their argument is ... view guide

Among the Rocks

Robert Browning's "Among the Rocks" is the seventh in a nine-poem sequence titled "James Lee's Wife" (or, in its original printing, plain old "James Lee"), the opening piece in Browning's important... view guide

Confessions

English poet Robert Browning's "Confessions" is a tale of love and memory. The poem's speaker, an old man on his deathbed, makes a last confession to a visiting priest—but perhaps not a very contri... view guide

Epilogue

"Epilogue" was written by the Victorian poet Robert Browning. The poem's speaker is a man at the end of his life who urges his loved ones not to feel sorry for him once he's gone. Ever an optimist,... view guide

Home-Thoughts, from Abroad

"Home-Thoughts, from Abroad" is English poet Robert Browning's tale of homesickness and longing. Visiting some exotic foreign country, the poem's speaker can only think of the springtime beauty of ... view guide

How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix

"How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix" is Robert Browning's tale of heroism and memory. In this dramatic monologue, a soldier recounts a valiant ride he made to carry a critical message... view guide

Life in a Love

The Victorian poet Robert Browning's "Life in a Love," first published in 1855, explores the often obsessive, irrational nature of unrequited love. The poem's speaker vows to endlessly pursue his b... view guide

Love Among the Ruins

In Robert Browning's "Love Among the Ruins," a lover makes his way across a grassy landscape to meet with his beloved in the ruins of an old tower. A majestic ancient city once stood on this very g... view guide

Love in a Life

The Victorian poet Robert Browning first published "Love in a Life" in his 1855 collection Men and Women. The mysterious poem follows its speaker as he searches his house for his beloved. The poem ... view guide

Meeting at Night

Victorian poet Robert Browning's "Meeting at Night" follows the journey of its speaker to a meeting with a lover. It was published in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845) with an additional "Morning... view guide

My Last Duchess

“My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue written by Victorian poet Robert Browning in 1842. In the poem, the Duke of Ferrara uses a painting of his former wife as a conversation piece. The Duke sp... view guide

Pictor Ignotus

In "Pictor Ignotus" (one of Robert Browning's trademark dramatic monologues—poems spoken by characters, like speeches from a play), an anonymous Italian Renaissance painter laments what he could ha... view guide

Porphyria's Lover

"Porphyria’s Lover" is a poem by the British poet Robert Browning, first published in 1836. Along with"My Last Duchess," it has become one of Browning’s most famous dramatic monologues—due in no sm... view guide

Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister

Robert Browning's "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" is a darkly funny story of hatred, hypocrisy, and self-deception. The poem's speaker, a monk in a Spanish monastery, fumes as he watches his fe... view guide

The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church

"The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church" is one of Robert Browning's dramatic monologues (poems written in the voice of a character, like speeches from a play). The speaker here is a c... view guide

The Laboratory

"The Laboratory" is one of English poet Robert Browning's famous dramatic monologues—poems written in the voice of a particular character, as if they were speeches from a play. In this poem, a 17th... view guide

The Last Ride Together

"The Last Ride Together" is Robert Browning's tale of heartbreak, imperfection, and hope. Disappointed in love, this dramatic monologue's speaker asks his beloved to go on one final ride with him (... view guide

The Lost Leader

Published in 1845 in the collection Dramatic Poems and Lyrics, Robert Browning's "The Lost Leader" is a political poem about a writer who has betrayed his ideals. It was immediately understood as a... view guide

The Lost Mistress

Robert Browning's "The Lost Mistress" is a dramatic monologue (a poem in the voice of a particular character) told from the point of view of a man whose lover has just broken things off with him. T... view guide

The Patriot

"The Patriot" is English poet Robert Browning's reflection on human fickleness and frailty. Only a year before he tells his tale, this dramatic monologue's speaker was honored as a patriotic hero; ... view guide

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Victorian poet Robert Browning wrote "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" to amuse his young friend Willy (the son of his friend William Macready) while he was recovering from an illness. In this retell... view guide

Two in the Campagna

"Two in the Campagna" is Robert Browning's bittersweet, philosophical reflection on the glories and the limits of human love. The poem's speaker—clearly a voice for Browning himself, addressing his... view guide

Women and Roses

In Victorian poet Robert Browning's "Women and Roses," a dazzled speaker recounts a strange dream. He sees before him a "red-rose tree"—a bush of red roses—around which all the beautiful women who ... view guide