Porphyria's Lover
"Porphyria's Lover" is a poem by Robert Browning and it was first published as "Porphyria" in the January 1836 issue of Monthly Repository. Browning later republished it in Dramatic Lyrics (1842) paired with "Johannes Agricola in Meditation" under the title "Madhouse Cells." According to (Browning 89) the poem did not receive its definitive title until 1863. "Porphyria's Lover" is Browning's first ever short dramatic monologue, and also the first of his poems to examine abnormal psychology. Although its initial publication passed nearly unnoticed and it received little critical attention in the nineteenth century, the poem is now heavily anthologized and much studied. It had great appeal ...
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1820 "Marcian Colonna" on this source, but added a new detail; after the murder, the killer sits up all night with his victim”(Ross 68).
The poem consists of one long stanza, written in a simple, conversational style, but with a strictly maintained rhyme and meter, of ABABB. The persona is an apparent madman who sits embracing a woman he claims to have murdered the night before. Porphyria, he says, came to his cottage, kindled a fire, then sat beside him and told him she loved him. The speaker assumes that if she could, she would want to be with him forever. As the persona adores Porphyria (as shown by the calming power she holds as she enters) he strangles her to preserve the moment in which she loves him.
Although "Porphyria's Lover" is a short poem written in straightforward language, interpretations have been many and various. Most readers, however, tend to focus on the insane persona and to define the poem as a portrait of abnormal psychology. Browning's monologues are ...
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that it sets the stage for a dismal human mood. The next seven lines tell us Porphyria has been to the cottage many times before and is comfortable building up the existing fire within the fireplace. That is significant because it demonstrates a relationship of some duration.
The reason for her forthcoming death first begins to reveal itself within the following three lines,
And, last, she sat down by my side
And called me. When no voice replied,
She put my arm about her waist.
(Best para. 7) states that the speaker is in a solemn mood are made apparent when Porphyria speaks to him but he says nothing in reply. So she sits by his side, reaches for his arm and places it ...
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"Porphyria's Lover." Essayworld.com. April 28, 2011. Accessed April 25, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Porphyrias-Lover/98590.
"Porphyria's Lover." Essayworld.com. April 28, 2011. Accessed April 25, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Porphyrias-Lover/98590.
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