Robert Browning Poetry

Robert Browning Poetry

By Madison Nef

Prospice

Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:
For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall,
Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all.
I was ever a fighter, so—one fight more,
The best and the last!
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore,
And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,
The black minute's at end,
And the elements' rage, the fiend-voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!

In my eyes, this poem is about death and dying. The first four lines are about the sensation of death, I think- “the fog in my throat, the mist in my face” are just lines used to indicate weakness. “When the snow begins and the blast denotes, I am nearing the place” is symbolic for dying as well; I can only assume that what Browning means by “nearing the place” he means heaven. Lines 5-8 are once more about dying, however more of a reflection on the man’s past life: how he was strong, powerful and willed… but now is reduced to nothing on his deathbed.

Lines 9-12 are symbolic for life, as Browning uses a soldier’s life as a metaphor. The summit being attained means that he has lived his life out fully and completed all his goals, and the journey being done is pretty self-explanatory; he knows his life is at its end but is satisfied with what he has done. The barriers falling represent his weak state and letting himself drift… welcoming death, even. By “the reward of it all”, I once again think Browning was talking about heaven due to the line before it: “Though a battle’s to fight ere the guerdon be gained” is just saying that life should be lived to the fullest and you should use your time to be happy, because you reap what you sow.

Lines 13-20 are the dying man’s lament, in a way- he was strong and a soldier, so he doesn’t want to die an easy death. He feels that he should die a similar death as his comrades, and not an easy one. Being a fighter, he doesn’t want to die easily and peacefully but feels that he deserves a bit of a rougher death due to his life; rebelling against what he has just said about “barriers falling”. If your barriers have fallen, then you welcome death… but even as he welcomes death, he doesn’t quite want to accept the fact that his life is at its end.

The rest of the poem seems to be his closure to his wife. Since this poem was in the section of the book that was dedicated to his wife, this rings true. He’s dying, or maybe at the time of writing the poem was sick enough where he feared death and decided to make it his closure. Or, maybe he wrote it in good health but wanted his wife to have something to remember him by once he was gone… I don’t know. That’s my interpretation of the poem, though.

I think that the title “prospice” comes from the Latin phrase “respice, adspice, prospice” which means “look to the past, the present, the future.” In that case, the poem should be “looking to the future” in Latin. Now, going against what I just got done explaining, I am going to take a different route with the poem. I read another analysis, and the poem was written by Browning shortly after his WIFE died. This throws a whole other curve on the poem- others seem to think it’s his way of trying to move on. The death of a loved one is hard… I know; and maybe this poem, as I said, was closure for Browning… but closure for his wife.

If the poem is indeed his way of moving on from his wife’s death, then the title and everything else holds true. “Looking to the future” to get over her death, not wanting to die simply because she died, and because he still has other things in life to do… the soldier references because he had to be strong through her death (obviously) and his way of battling on through his life even after that depressing event. THIS is why I try not to read other analysis of poetry before I complete mine… because if I do, I go off on a whole different theory.

Ah well. You got a bit more than you bargained for… not a big deal. I hope you like the second opinion on the poem too.

Maddie