Monday, June 29, 2009
Robert Browning on “Love Among the Ruins”
I like this piece. It fulfils my historical mind set. The fact that it shows some ways shows the Roman Empire, especially when there is a discussion about aqueducts. There seems to be a gloriousness about the idea of the ancient world. The third stanza really gives this off stating “and such plenty and perfection, see, of grass/ Never was! / Such a carpet as, this summer-time, o’erspreads/ every vestige of the city, guessed alone,/ stock or stone.” There seems to be a want for the older days of life. This is understandable given the time period that this was written. There was a major push to rediscover the world of the old times with Egypt and Persia. At the same time the industrial age produced smog and spoiled the natural beauty of landscape throughout the land. Browning here could be attempting to reattach romantic ideas to the Victorian era. This allows for poets to have a greater sense of freedom in writing. This allows for a reader to also reconnect with the old days. By using ancient times it makes it easier to push across the emotions of the past that are of nostalgia. Often when you hear of the Romans and Egyptians you think of the idea of power and nothing seems impossible. This is a romantic ideal. It embodies the French Revolution that nothing can truly keep a group of people down
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Robert,
ReplyDeleteOK commentary on Browning's "Love and Ruins," with some good side information on the nineteenth century's interest in the ancient world and especially Rome. Note, however, that Browning's juxtaposition and contrast of the ruins of ancient Rome with the bucolic present day Italy does not end with a preference for the former; Browning's speaker proclaims that a living love is better than dead glory and dust.
That's a good point on the cultural obsession with the past! I guess every culture has some historical time period that they idolize for whatever reason. I would disagree on your conclusion with it, though. I don't think Browning is just making a comment on how great Rome or Egypt was, or even that he's speaking about the French revolution, the romantic period, or anything else huge and political; rather, I think he's using that cultural milieu to make his point about the importance of his own, as Dr. Glance describes it, "living love" even more significant.
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