“The Lost Mistress” Summary

“The Lost Mistress” Themes

• 

  The Difficulty of Transitioning from Romance to Friendship

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Lost Mistress”

• Lines 1-4

  All's over, then: does truth sound bitter
  As one at first believes?
  Hark, 'tis the sparrows' good-night twitter
  About your cottage eaves!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  And the leaf-buds on the vine are woolly,
  I noticed that, today;
  One day more bursts them open fully
  —You know the red turns grey.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Tomorrow we meet the same then, dearest?
  May I take your hand in mine?
  Mere friends are we,—well, friends the merest
  Keep much that I resign:

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  For each glance of the eye so bright and black,
  Though I keep with heart's endeavor,—
  Your voice, when you wish the snowdrops back,
  Though it stay in my soul for ever!—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  Yet I will but say what mere friends say,
  Or only a thought stronger;
  I will hold your hand but as long as all may,
  Or so very little longer!

  

  

  

  

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“The Lost Mistress” Symbols

• 

  Spring

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“The Lost Mistress” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Understatement

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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“The Lost Mistress” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Mistress
• Hark
• 'Tis
• Eaves
• Mere
• Resign
• Endeavor

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Lost Mistress”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Lost Mistress” Speaker

“The Lost Mistress” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Lost Mistress”

More “The Lost Mistress” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Brief Biography — Visit the Poetry Foundation's website to learn more about Robert Browning's life and career.  

  • Dramatic Romances and Lyrics — Flip through a digitized copy of Browning's Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, in which "The Lost Mistress" was originally published. 

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

  • Browning's Legacy — Read an essay celebrating the bicentenary of Browning's birth and learn how Browning continues to influence poetry today.

  • Browning's Influence — Read an article about Browning's influence on the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas—as discovered through Thomas's jottings on the back of an envelope. ("The Lost Mistress" was one of the poems that Thomas singled out!)

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Browning

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  • Love Among the Ruins

  • Love in a Life

  • Meeting at Night

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