Love in a

life

By Robert Browning

ABOUT ROBERT BROWNING

Born 7 May 1812 died 12 December 1889

He was an English poet and playwright whose
mastery ofdramatic verse,
especiallydramatic monologues, made him
one of the primeVictorianpoets.

CONTEXT

The poem was written in 1855, when

Browning was 43.
The poem is from the collection Men
and Women - Volume 1.

I
Room after room,
I hunt the house through
We inhabit together.
Heart, fear nothing, for, heart, thou shalt find her
Next time, herself!not the trouble behind her
Left in the curtain, the couch's perfume!
As she brushed it, the cornice-wreath blossomed anew:
Yon looking-glass gleamed at the wave of her feather.

THE POEM

II
Yet the day wears,
And door succeeds door;
I try the fresh fortune
Range the wide house from the wing to the centre.
Still the same chance! she goes out as I enter.
Spend my whole day in the quest,who cares?
But 'tis twilight, you see,with such suites to explore,
Such closets to search, such alcoves to importune!

SUMMARY
The 1st stanza
sets up the idea of a pursuit through a house in
which both he and the woman live.
Poem becomes a quest.
Mentions troubles in the women's past and how
he wants not to care about them.
Establishes ideas of cleaning, suggesting that
the woman he lusts after is a maid in the house.
The 2nd stanza
Poem develops a more mature and sexual tone.
Author portrays a chase which no longer evokes
innocence, but sexual desire.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Lyric
Portrays Brownings personal feelings
ABCDDABC rhyme scheme
Neat symmetry
Regular rhythm and almost waltz like
tune -musical

ANALYSIS OF
POEM

THE TITLE LOVE IN A

LIFE

Its title is evocative, it presents love to

the readers as something that is black
and white. (that either can or cannot be
part of a life.)
To emphasise this, the author has used
alliteration; he uses the same liquid
sound at the beginning of the two words
love and life.
The liquid sound emphasises how love is
like water essential, but will easily slip
away.

LINE 1 ROOM AFTER

ROOM

Time after time.

Persistent attempts to catch the
attention of the woman he is infatuated
with.
Imagery of someone searching.

LINE 2 - I HUNT THE HOUSE THROUGH

House association of houses with

domestic intimacy is frequent in Bs Poetry.
Often coupled with the quest for a
haunting, unattainable woman and with
suggestions of occult power.
Metaphor his love for this woman is like a
game of hide and seek.
He is searching for her while she is hiding
away somewhere else in the house.
The use of the word Hunt starts
to introduce an element of threat,
showing increasing frustration.

LINE 3 - WE INHABIT TOGETHER.

Ambiguous
Do they live together?
Or is it a back and forth relationship that
they are in together?

LINE 4 HEART, FEAR NOTHING, FOR,

HEART, THOU SHALT FIND HER

Pep talk.
He has decided to try and engage in a
relationship with her without the fear of
things not working out.
Innocence the repetition of heart
suggests sincere feelings of love.

LINE 5 NEXT TIME, HERSELF!NOT

THE TROUBLE BEHIND HER

He doesn't care about her past or their

history together.
Next time suggests that the search
might have happened before - what did
he find/what was the outcome.
Trouble has implications of her being a
wife
(Trouble and strife is the rhyming slang
for wife)

LINE 6 - LEFT IN THE CURTAIN, THE

COUCH'S PERFUME!

Ideas of progression/ him continually

missing her as she has already moved
on.
Rippling of curtains as she walks by releasing smell of perfume.

LINE 7 - AS SHE BRUSHED IT, THE

CORNICE-WREATH BLOSSOMED ANEW:

Implication of brushed that she is a

maid.
Cornice-wreath is a made up
compound word.
A cornice is an ornamental border
round the walls of a room, just below the
ceiling.
Wreath has connotations of celebration
(e.g. Christmas) and of triumph (e.g.
roman emperors) suggesting that he is
admiring her as she works and
celebrating her skill and beauty.

LINE 8 - YON LOOKING-GLASS GLEAMED

AT THE WAVE OF HER FEATHER.

Feather feather duster, again

implications of her being a maid or
cleaner.
Looking glass mirror, perhaps he has
been watching her in the mirror.

2ND STANZA - LINES 1+2 YET THE DAY

WEARS, AND DOOR SUCCEEDS DOOR

He hasnt yet been successful in his

search. Why?
Is she avoiding him?
This is a turning point in the poem
tone becomes more desperate,
sexualised and unvirtuous.
Repetition of door creates a spiral like
image, suggesting he has lost control of
his emotions and cant stop searching
A spiral of desire.

LINES 3+4 I TRY THE FRESH FORTUNERANGE THE

WIDE
HOUSE FROM THE WING TO THE CENTRE.

He wont give up persistent

Wide house adds to readers
understanding of the situation. One
interpretation is that they are both
servants in a manor house.
Personification of the house the word
wing has two meanings one meaning an
area of the house and the other the
wing of a bird, creating imagery in the
readers mind of a bird flying. This
creates the idea of hope, consolidated
by the use of the word fortune

LINES 5+6 STILL THE SAME CHANCE! SHE GOES OUT

AS I ENTER.
SPEND MY WHOLE DAY IN THE QUEST,WHO CARES?

Immediately establishes that his most

recent attempts to woo the lady
resulted in failure.
Crude sexual connotations enter
Quest shows persistence towards a
goal.
The word fortune in line 3 and now the
use of the word chance creates
imagery of gambling, suggesting that
the speaker is risking everything in
order to catch the attention of the

LAST LINES BUT 'TIS TWILIGHT, YOU SEE,

WITH SUCH SUITES TO EXPLORE SUCH CLOSETS
TO SEARCH, SUCH ALCOVES TO IMPORTUNE!
Twilight suggests that the speaker is an aging man who
has to act now if he is to get what he wants. times of
day in poem represent different stages of the speakers
life.
The word Suites sounds like sweet which could be the
way he views the woman in the poem. Or it could be
taken literally to mean bedroom.
To a modern audience the word closet has connotations
with being homosexual, so they might view this line as the
speaker exploring his sexuality throughout his life time.
Importune means to harass someone persistently or to
approach someone to offer services as a prostitute.
shows how search has developed into a sexual pursuit.

DIFFERENT
INTERPRETATIONS

The poem explores Mans pursuit of Woman.

Browning, who was 43 when he wrote the
poem , seems to suggest that a young man
will set out in early years with honest and
tender thoughts of true love. Yet, in his
twilight he is likely to covet only lust.
One way of looking at the poem is that he is
a fellow servant within a manor house, but
with very separate duties which do not
afford much contact with the maid.