Pomegranates from an English Garden: A selection from the poems of Robert BrowningBrowning, Robert
General
Pomegranates from an English Garden: A selection from the poems of Robert Browning
Browning, Robert
English poetry
_Stanza 17._—Shall God be infinitely above his creature man, in all
faculties except one, and that “the greatest of all,” viz., Love? (Note,
in passing, the exquisite beauty of the lines: “With that stoop of the
soul which in bending upraises it too,” and “As by each new obeisance in
spirit, I climb to his feet.” The passage immediately following this
line is of course ironical at his own expense, which is indicated by the
parenthetical “I laugh as I think”; as if to say “how utterly foolish
the thought that such a wide province, such a grand gift, as Love,
should be mine quite apart from God, the great Ruler and Giver of all!”)
* * * * *
_Stanza 18._—Impossible! God is the giver: all that I have—Love, as well
as everything else—is from him; I can wish, but cannot will the thing I
would; but God can, therefore God will; his love cannot be frustrated as
mine is; it must even for such as “Saul, the failure, the ruin he seems
now,” find Salvation; being infinite it must have its will, and find a
way, however hard it be (see the striking line “it is by no breath,”
&c.); and _there it is_! See THE CHRIST stand!
Remember carefully the position as explained in the 15th stanza as you
read the magnificent climax, beginning—
“O Saul, it shall be
A Face like my face that receives thee;”
observe also the effect of the spondee with which stanza 18 closes,
instead of the usual anapæst; it gives wonderful dignity and strength to
the thought. The same effect is produced several times in the early part
of the poem by the same means, but nowhere with such power as in this,
the grand climax.
* * * * *
What a contrast here to the petty mechanical notions of inspiration
which have so often degraded the loftiest subject of human thought; and
how marvellously is the presence and the power of the Unseen on such a
soul as David’s imaged forth in the lines of the closing stanza, in
words which seem almost to utter the unutterable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN EPISTLE
CONTAINING THE
STRANGE MEDICAL EXPERIENCE OF KARSHISH,
THE ARAB PHYSICIAN.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account