Prospice

Edit 0 0 5
First Published 1864, in Dramatic Personae.

The title of this poem is Latin for 'look forward'.

Prospice seems to be an unusually biographical poem. Certainly, we can recognise in the

speaker, Browning the poet, mourning his dead wife.

- First poem published after death of Elizabeth Barrett

- Prospice seems to be an unusually biographical poem. Certainly, we can recognise in the
speaker, Browning the poet, mourning his dead wife.
- Probably also Brownings most rhetorical piece. The language used in the poem almost
appears to be a battle cry to death
Points for consideration
- The title of this poem is Latin for 'look forward'. Why is this appropriate?
- Think about persuasive devices (rule of three, superlatives etc)
Poems for comparison
- The Lost Leader Sense of grandeur and self-importance.
- The Grammarians Funeral Mountainous setting as backdrop to monumental event.
- A Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister - compelling and outspoken dramatic persona
- Dubiety old age

What comparisons can we make from reading Alfred Tennyson's poem Crossing the Bar

The language used in the poem almost appears to be a battle cry to death. How does the
language from these film scenes compare to the language used in the poem? Think about
persuasive devices (rule of three, superlatives etc)

1. Lord of the Rings - Return of the King

2. Armageddon - The presidents address to the world
3. Gladiator - 'for you are in Elycium and you are already dead'
4. Henry V 'Band of Brothers'

What film clips can you think of?

Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson

Crossing the Bar
SUNSET and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness or farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

"PROSPICE" (look forward) is a challenge to spiritual conflict, exultant

with the certainty of victory, glowing with the prospective joy of
re-union with one whom death has sent before. We cannot doubt that this
poem, like the preceding, came from the depths of the poet's own heart.

"Prospice" (pro~spik'e~) means "Look Forward". Browning wrote this shortly

after Elizabeth Barrett Browning's death in 1861. The "soul of my soul" in
the last two lines is Elizabeth Barrett Browning in fact ...

This poem ranks with William Ernest Henley's "Invictus" and Tennyson's
"Crossing the Bar" as one of my favorite poems about men facing death with
sheer courage.

"I was ever a fighter, so -- one fight more,

The best and the last! "

A fight he knows he cannot win, and doesn't care, eagerly looking forward to
death.

Hap Notes: Well, this is Browning's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," written in 1861, fifty
years before the birth of Dylan Thomas. Except he is directing himself to meet death/old age as the
last great struggle. He charges himself to fight death but he also knows that nobody gets out of that
fight alive. The important part, to Browning, is to "Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's
arrears/Of pain, darkness and cold."

So he's telling us that the price for life's joys is the struggle one must face, one last time, with the
arch forces of death and aging. "Guerdon," if you are unfamiliar with the word (I was) means reward.
So he's sort of saying "Chin up, face to the wind, go forward into the battle of life and death."
Prospice is Latin for "forward," by the by.
Browning wrote this poem after the death of his wife, poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and theirs is
one of the truly great love stories of their day. Some say that Robert's influence was not always a
good one on her work but this sort of posthumous sifting is frustrating since Elizabeth, in spite of her
physical frailty, was pretty much able to hold her own. She wrote possibly the most famous love
poem of all time "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" to Browning. She was 38 when he met
her (he was a fan of her work). He was 32. After they married she was disinherited by her father (her
dad did this to all his children who married- he was more than a bit of a fascist as a dad). She was 43
when she had her first child. She opposed slavery and encouraged the rights of women. Browning
was quite drowned in love for her and her poetry. Today's poem's last lines express his fervent hope
to be reunited with her, the "soul of his soul," in death.

I'm a great fan of both of the Brownings, although I lean somewhat towards Robert. After struggling
through all ten poems of his book-length "The Ring and The Book" one either loves him and admires
him or never wants to read another word of him and admires him. Of those two I am the former. But
that's not why I chose this poem at this time.

Okay, you'll have to sit through a bit more about Amitabh Bachchan here just warnin' you. Because
he quoted both Browning and Tennyson on his blog a couple of days ago (yes, even my movie stars
have to like poetry.) He comes by it naturally since his dad, Harivansh Rai "Bachchan" Shrivastav, is a
very famous Hindi poet. So, he's going through one of his father's books and he sees, written in his
father's hand, a quote from Browning, "I was ever a fighter, so -- one fight more." It moved him (as it
would anyone, I suppose) and reminded me, once more, of my love for this very heartfelt poem.
(The Tennyson his dad quoted is in my top ten poems of all time- we'll get to it someday.....) It
amuses me that even my love for a Bollywood icon is another thread in the tapestry of the poetry
that creates the universe.

Harivansh Bachchan, by the way, wrote a wonderful poem "Madhushala" (The Tavern) which is a
deeply drawn metaphor on poetry, life and love that I am not qualified to talk about. This does not
stop me from singing it (yes, it's been set to music, poetry's easier to understand cousin) and if you
hear Amit-ji singing it you will too warning you ahead of time that it's infectious:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=19sMzT5Iln0&feature=related

Here's an English translation of the poem- I don't know how good it is, my Hindi is limited to "no,"
"potato," "come here," "darling," "everything," "tea" and "wrong format," so I'm incapable of
knowing it is a good one although the poem's metaphor comes through loud and clear:
allpoetry.com/poem/8586937-Madhushala__The_Tavern__-by-Harivansh_Rai_Bachchan

Robert Browning's "Prospice" is a dramatic monologue written about a man's thoughts on his
impending death. Browning was an ambitious poet who wrote with both great range and
variety. Through the vividness of imagery, swiftness of movement, and notes of hope and
courage, Browning expresses his optimistic outlook on death and the afterlife.

Born in Camberwell, London, on May 7th, 1812, Browning inherited his scholastic tastes
from his father-- a clerk in the Bank of England. Browning's personal life revolved around his
relationship with the poet Elizabeth Barret, whom he secretly married in 1846. The pair
resided in Italy until 1861, when Elizabeth passed away. This resulted in Browning leaving
Italy with a heavy heart, and settling in London, where he continued his writing. The verse
novel The Ring and the Book, which was written in the last few decades of his life, achieved
Browning his true literary prestige. Although heart broken after his wife's death, Browning
could be described as a congenial, gregarious man. In the words of William Sharp:

"Everybody wished him to come and dine; and he did his utmost to gratify everybody. He
saw everything; read all the notable books; [...] knew all the gossip of the literary clubs,
salons and the studios; was a frequenter of afternoon tea-parties; and then, over and above it,
he was Browning; the most profoundly subtle mind that has exercised itself in poetry since
Shakespeare."

Robert Browning died in Venice on December 12th, 1889, and was buried in the Poet's
Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Browning's "Prospice" is written as a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem

with a speaker who is clearly separate from the poet, who speaks to an audience that remains
clearly present in the scene. This implied audience is what distinguishes the dramatic
monologue. The purpose is to develop the character of the speaker, rather than make a
statement about the declared subject matter. For Browning, this type of writing provides a
way in which he can explore somewhat controversial ideas, as well as forms of consciousness
and self-representation. The rhyming scheme of the dramatic monologue occurs in the
rhyming of the last word of every other line.

The though content of "Prospice" compares the speaker's impending death to climbing a
mountain, and being a soldier in war. It conveys an image of a courageous man embracing
death, and what God has planned for him without fear. Browning begins by asking the
audience if they think he fears death; comparing it to the elements. The fog in his throat is
making it hard to breathe as he ascends the mountain. The cold rush of wind signifies he is
nearing the top of the mountain--the final hour of death. As he approaches he sees death
waiting at his lookout point, but he does not hesitate to go forward. He is strong enough to
submit without a fight, because he has reached the top of the mountain, and allows his guard
to be let down. Even though it is necessary to fight the battle before the final award is
received, the speaker was always a fighter, so he will do it right the last time. The speaker
would hate to have lived his life being blind to and avoiding death, pretending that it would
never happen. He wants to see and know all of it, even the grotesque aspects, and face it like
his fellow soldiers in their heroic manner. He would bear the pain in his death in order to
balance the pain he escaped throughout

his lifetime. He believes that the worst things, like death, turn the best men into valorous ones
when they are facing their last minutes of life. All the pain and struggles that accompany
death will disappear and become a relief as they dwindle. The speaker then sees a light,
followed by his predeceased wife. He is able to hold her again, and leaves whatever happens
next up to God, for he is with his love once again--

"the soul of [his] soul."

Browning's theme of the poem is expressed partially in the title, "Prospice", meaning to go
forward. He wants everyone to face death bravely and turn the disadvantage into an
advantage, for death is God's will, and there is nothing to be afraid of. Browning is telling the
audience that death is not something to be feared, but rather to embrace, because it makes it
easier to accept and, in the end, one is reunited with the ones they love. The poem is also an
antithesis, as it establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between the ideas of the
impending doom of death, and the anticipation of it, by joining them together in parallel
structure.

"Prospice" opens with a rhetorical question, presumably mocking the thought of fearing
death. The first two lines feature consonance, producing a harmonious effect as the speaker
describes the physical effects of the ascension of a mountain. The first ten lines create an
almost hopeless tone; making one think that the man is perturbed by death. Death is
personified for the first time in line six, then as "the Arch Fear" in line seven; frequently
acquiring human characteristics throughout the poem. The reasoning behind this conceivably
being that the speaker is visualizing death as the enemy he must stand up to. The tone of
dreariness is supported in line ten with imagery of the "barriers

fall[ing]."

A shift in tone occurs in lines eleven and twelve, conveying the man's changing attitude
towards death. The shift is especially evident in the pause in line thirteen: "I was ever a
fighter, so--one fight more", when the man seems to gain courage. The following lines
compare his surrender to death to soldiers in war, who fight the battle to win the ultimate
reward. In the case of this poem, the reward is death. The man wishes to see the true face of
death, and suffer the pain that his fellow soldiers had to endure in their deaths.

The last ten lines of the poem serve as a sort of denouement to the poem, as the speaker gains
peace in the end of the fight, for "The black minute's at end". Repetition is evident in lines
twenty-four and twenty-five, with the word "shall", as the speaker loses consciousness. When
death has finally taken over, a tone of relief is shown when the speaker is reunited with his
wife, and decides to leave his future up to God.

Browning expresses his optimistic outlook on his death and demise through his use of vivid
imagery, swift movement of words, and tone of courage and hope in his poem, "Prospice".
The tribute to his wife serves as a visage into the personality and beliefs of Robert Browning,
making one question their own views on death and whether or not it is something to be
feared.

Works Cited

Answers.com. "Robert Browning: Biography and Much More from Answers.com".

www.answers.com. 28 March 2007.

Browning, Robert. "Prospice". A Book of Good Poems. Ed. C. T. Fyfe. Toronto: The Copp
Clark Publishing Company, 1959.

GradeSaver. "Introduction: Life of Browning." www.gradesaver.com. 28 March 2007.

1] Written in the autumn of 1861, a few months after Mrs. Browning's death. First published
in the Atlantic Monthly of June 1864; also in Men and Women, 1864.
Prospice: the Latin imperative of prospicio -- look forward, look ahead.
7] The Arch Fear: Death.

15] bandaged: a reference to the practice of bandaging the eyes of those who are to be
executed by shooting.

19] arrears: Browning implies that he has had less of "pain, darkness, and cold" than most
people have.

Examples
In the lines entitled Prospice it is death the adversary that is confronted and
conquered; the poem is an act of the faith which comes through love; it is ascribed to
no imaginary speaker, and does not, indeed, veil its personal character.

Robert Browning

How "like one entire and perfect chrysolite" is the little piece called "Prospice"!

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864

Prospice," by Robert Browning (1812-89), is the greatest death song ever written.

Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library

It has been said that next to Browning's "Prospice" it is the greatest death-song ever
written.

Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library

It seems to me that if these two poems only, "Prospice" and "Rabbi Ben Ezra," were
to survive to the day of Macaulay's New Zealander, the contemporaries of that
meditative traveller would have sufficient to enable them to understand the great fame
of the poet of "dim ancestral days," as the more acute among them could discern
something of the real Shelley, though time had preserved but the three lines --

Life of Robert Browning

_ In "Prospice" death is reckoned an adversary to be courageously met and

overcome.

Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning

Prospice" ( "Look forward") was written in the autumn following Mrs. Browning's
death.

Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning

From the unsparing vigor of these lines we turn for relief to "Rabbi Ben Ezra" and
"Prospice.
 The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864

It is, among songs over the dead, what Rabbi ben Ezra and Prospice are among the
songs which face and grapple with death; the fittest requiem to follow such deaths as
those.

Robert Browning

Prospice would not be the great uplifting song it is were the note of struggle, of
heroic heart to bear the brunt and pay in one moment all life's arrears of pain,
darkness, and cold, less clearly sounded; and were the final cry less intense with the
longing of bereavement.

Robert Browning

wouldn't even call the opening sarcastic--or ironic. It seems to me that the speaker,in the manner of
a true man of th nineteenth century (and now I'm begin just slightly ironic), is facing death
resolutely, determined not to fear it. Since he describes the transition from this life to the
mysterious next as a voyage, it's easy to imagine him standing staunchly in the bow of the ship like
Washington crossing the Delaware, or maybe like Odysseus sailing past the Sirens. So I'd call the
tone of most of the poem resolute, even heroic. Then in the next-to-last sentence (which begins "For
sudden") the tone changes to hopeful as the things to be faced bravely fall behind, and in the last
sentence it becomes tender and personal. Up to that point Browning could be any Victorian poet
envisioning death*, but suddenly he's only himself, looking forward to being reunited with his dead
wife.

It's a dramatic monologue, written from the perspective of a soldier facing death
- uses the extended metaphor of the approach of death likened to climbing a mountain in harsh
weather. Death comes when the summit is reached through bravery and determination - hence
death is to some extent an accomplishment.
- opens with a rhetorical question "Fear death?" - this seems to be addressed both to the audience
and to the narrator himself. The rhetorical nature of the question implies that the notion of fearing
death is ludicrous... the speaker would never fear death.
- opens with consonance/alliteration - "Fear death? To feel the fog..." The use of the fricative 'f'
creates a hushed and calm atmosphere. The contrast between the sound and subject matter
introduces us to his unusual attitude towards death.
- Use of Latin title (Prospice = looking forward) both conveys the fact that facing death is a timeless
issue and also instantly shows his optimistic attitude.
- Personification of death - "Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form" / "I would hate that
death bandaged my eyes"
- alliteration - "guerdon be gained" / "Bear the brunt"... the harsh consonants/plosives reflect his
determination and strength
- Use of punctuation (exclamation marks) to show both resolution and to an extent almost
excitement.
- Repetition of 'shall' suggests that his notion of what death will be like is not simply a belief, but is
knowledge - and shows how deeply embedded this knowledge is
- Final exposure of why death is not to be feared: the soldier's soft heart is finally revealed, since
death is a place to be reunited with loved ones.