Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert BrowningBrowning, Robert
General
Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning
Browning, Robert
Drama; English poetry; Poetry -- Collections
77. _Carbonari._ All persons leaving a city had to have a passport
officially signed giving the destination and the date of departure.
Luigi had obtained such a passport for Vienna for that night. It was,
however, suspected that this was a mere trick to give a wrong notion of
his whereabouts. If the passport should prove to be a pretense, other
suspicions against Luigi would be confirmed; it would be taken for
granted that he belonged to the Carbonari, a secret society of Italian
patriots; he would be arrested and sent to the prison at Spielberg. But
if he should go to Vienna he is to be let alone. The officers are, of
course, on the wrong track. If Luigi goes to Vienna it is to carry out
his purpose of killing the tyrant. If he stays in Asolo it means that he
has abandoned that purpose.
EVENING
6. _Lucius Junius._ This name comes easily to Luigi's lips because
Lucius Junius Brutus inspired the Romans against Tarquin.
14. _Old Franz._ The Austrian Emperor, Francis, I. Luigi's fancy is
caught by the echoes and the flowers, but they play into his dominant
idea of the freedom of Italy.
19. _Pellicos._ Silvio Pellico was an Italian patriot who had suffered a
long imprisonment in Spielberg Castle.
122. _Andrea_, etc. Three former Italian patriots who had conspired
against Austria.
135-143. Note in these lines how little Luigi really understands of the
point at issue. His emotional temperament has been stirred to the point
of desperate action, but the "ground for killing the King" he hardly
knows.
152. _Jupiter._ The largest of the planets. When a planet rises after
midnight it becomes a morning star.
163. _Titian at Treviso._ Treviso is seventeen miles from Venice. Its
cathedral contains a fine Annunciation by Titian which Luigi and his
betrothed Chiara had planned to see together.
164. _A king lived long ago._ This song was published in 1835 and later
adapted for this poem. The song has a great effect on Luigi because
beside his mental picture of the hated Austrian ruler he now places his
old folk-king who judged his people wisely, whose dignity and grace awed
even a python, and whom the gods loved. The possibility of having good
kings stirs his waning determination to rid the earth of evil ones.
INTERLUDE III
6. _The same treat._ The feast of the girl is made up of fig-peckers
(birds that feed on figs), lampreys (eel-like fish esteemed a delicacy),
and red wine from Breganze, a town noted for its wines.
17. _Spring's come_, etc. These girls are well differentiated. The
"first girl" is set apart from the others by her superior refinement, by
her longing for her country home, and by her unhappiness with Cecco. The
"third girl" seems to be the leader in the plan against Pippa.
22. _Deuzans_, etc. Varieties of apples.
64. _Ortolans._ Birds about the size of larks, and an expensive
delicacy.
66. _Polenta._ A coarse corn-meal pudding.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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