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Love in a Life
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. 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!
Notes:
There is a sense of assuredness he gives himself.
Alliteration has been used. For example "curtain, the couch" (line 6). This literary device enhances the sense of repetition in his movement
Whoever he is looking for cannot be found, but he continues the wild search
The fractured and confusing punctuation reflects the speakers state of mind thrown into sudden turmoil by his wife's dissappearance
The use of the word 'wears', reflecting tiredness, exhaustion and endlessness
It is a quest, going after something. It is a mission, worthwhile and important. Theres something to be achieved at the end
This poem ends exactly where it began. He is going around in circles to find her
The idea that there is nobody to find becomes stronger
He keeps on moving between sanity and insanity when he looks for this person
There is fear of death, losing a loved one. Fear of loneliness and separation
The change in line length could show the change in mood from calm, The house also seems to grow and spread
The rhyme scheme is A,B,C,D,D,A,B,C. It shows the circular actions of the speaker himself. As he searches, he goes from one door to another, always closed yet not able to catch her
The speaker's search is relentless and almost desperate,
How does Browning make Love in a Life such a heartfelt poem? Robert Browning Shows the desperation of the speakers state of mind as he searches his home for his beloved who cannot be found in love in a life
Browning portrays a vigorous search being done in order to find his loved one
A gothic element id depicted by the poet as there are signs of the loved one everywhere but she is nowhere to be found
The speaker is shown to have a fear of loneliness which compells hims to look around in circles
Image source: https://poetryprof.com/love-in-a-life/
Notes by Miss Farheen Khan (2023), compiled by Rayyan Jamil Khan of Class X-T Karachi Grammar School - College Section
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