Robert Browning
Robert Browning, one of the most
talented poets of the Victorian period, is
famous especially for his dramatic
monologues. Often these long poems deal with
such issues as love, death, and
faith. Much of his work is directly reflective
of his life and of those
issues that were of direct concern to him. One conflict
seen throughout
Browning's poetry is one of spirituality. His poetry forms a
spiritual
timeline; it reveals his spiritual influences and opinions. It formed
his own
Bible of beliefs which he possessed. Because Browning's views on
spirituality
changed, his poetry also gives insight on the internal conflicts
within his
life. The paper will explore Robert Browning's spiritual journey as
is
reflective in his poetry. Robert Browning was born in Camberwell,
near
London, England on May 7, 1812. He was raised by his father, also
Robert
Browning, and by his deeply religious mother, Sarah Anna
Weideman-Browning. His
often indulgent parents gave him the freedom to
explore new literary and
philosophical ideas of the time period, yet he was
also instructed to believe
the unexplained mysteries of the Christian
faith(Miller, 1953). His mother, who
had strong ties to the congregational
church, took great time to instruct Robert
in his religious studies. With
this open atmosphere, however, Browning exhibited
signs of disinterest in
religion during his early childhood. The town preacher,
in fact , found it
necessary to publicly scold "for restlessness and
inattention Master Robert
Browning"(as cited in,Miller, 1953, p.9). Robert
Browning's tendency
toward skepticism was recorded early on. Robert Browning's
first deviation
from his faith was at the age of fifteen or sixteen. His primary
influences
were the Flower family and the writing of P.B Shelley. Browning
often
traveled to the Flower's house to discuss music, poetry, and aethism
(Irvine
& Honan, 1974). Eliza Flower , with whom Browning was infatuated
was an
influence in Browning's aethism. She was one of the primary influences
that
turned Browning away from the Christianity of his mother. His other
influence,
the writing of Shelley, a known aethist, taught Browning to be an
independent
free thinker. After reading Shelley's book, Queen Mab , Browning
became an
aethist and a vegetarian(DeVane & Smalley, 1984). He rejected
his mother's
world to gain a sense of liberty and independence(Irvine &
Honan, 1974).
This faith change at such an early age seemed to lead to a
continual spiritual
inconsistency throughout his life. Browning had trouble
accepting any faith or
religion he chose to follow and often questioned his
judgment in faith related
decisions. Robert Browning considered Shelley to be
moral because he was
"true, simple hearted and brave"(cited in Payne, 1967,
p.198). He
found him to also be a man of religious mind because Shelley
was
"everywhere taking for granted some of the capital dogmas of
Christianity,
while most vehemently denying their historical basement" (cited
in Payne,
1967, p.199). Browning clearly possessed a great respect for
Shelley which
followed him through much of his early poetry. Browning's life
was
"fundamentally affected"(Miller, 1953, p.9) by the Shelley's
writing.
During his adolescence, Browning may have recognized Shelley's,
"fearless
spiritual independence"(Miller, 1953, p.9). He noticed a "principal
of
conduct whereby to measure in the years to come not only the sum of his
own
poetic achievement but the very nature of human integrity
itself"(Miller,
1953, p.9). Although there is no available poetry written
before his first
published work, Pauline, his early aethism is still
reflected in his early
poetry. Robert Browning eloped to Italy with Elizabeth
Barret. Upon meeting his
extremely religious wife and with her persuasion,
Browning began to realize that
Shelley's poetry had led him to a life of
self- absorption. Yet, "Robert
took a skeptical attitude on the spiritual
rappings, spurred on perhaps by his
wife's immediate will to
believe"(Markus,1995, p.219). Eventually, though,
Robert Browning made
the decision to return to his Christian faith, perhaps due
to his respect for
his deeply religious mother or to the persuasion by his
spiritually inclined
wife. It is said that Elizabeth, Browning's wife, believed
that "spiritualism
offered an alternative to melancholy: an assurance
reinforcing faith"(Miller,
1953, p.192). Browning, however was often
skeptical of his wife's
spiritualism. Despite this, Pauline reveals a return to
God, but also
displays an undying reverence to Shelley. Pauline, Robert
Browning's
first published work, was published in 1832. Pauline was
undisputedly
representative of Browning's reacceptance of Christianity. Some
critics believe
that "his mother's reaction to his intellectual rebellion was
probable one
of the major factors in Browning's return to
faith"(Williams,1970, p.19).
Others agree that the unbending spiritual
beliefs of his wife may have led him
down such a road(Miller, 1953)). The
exerpt in Pauline most clearly representing
this is the conclusion which is
also an invocation to Shelly. " sun -
treader I believe in God and truth and
love; and as one just escaped from
death..." Browning's contradictory
attitude in Pauline proves that he is
still lingering on the edge of aethism.
Robert Browning does not praise
Shelley's ideals in Pauline, but it is
clear that his great respect for Shelley
did not dwindle with the writing of
Pauline. Browning's attempt at returning to
Christianity resulted in the
hero of Pauline speaking of an "early loss of
youthful idealism and sense of
purpose, of his intellectual pride and the
bitterness and emptiness which it
brought to him"(Williams, 1970, p.94).
Unfortunately, in his invocation
to Shelley as "sun-treader",
Browning's devotion to him cannot be missed.
One of Robert Browning's next great
literary achievements was the publishing
of Paracelsus in 1835. Historically,
Darwin had recently published The
Origin of Species, and the new scientific
ideas of evolution caused many to
revoke God, Jesus and Christian living. Robert
Browning, however had the
opposite reaction. He took his knowledge of a
competitive world and viewed it
as a reason for hope and reason to continue his
struggles. Browning saw this
scientific revolution as a bridge connected God and
man; and answer to the
mysteries of life. The great reinforcement in Browning's
faith is evident in
Paracelsus. Browning meditates "on the ability of God
to restore his worn out
youth - or, in other words, to extend the capacity of
his human nature..."
(Williams,1970, p.21). Robert Browning says in
Paracelsus, " God! Thou
art mind!". He comes to the realization that
through God, everything exists,
and also through God, the poetic talent he
possesses was given. He reveals
that, "if all poets, god ever meant should
save the world, and therefore lent
great gifts to, but who, proud, refused to do
his work." God is said to have
"lent" great gifts to those
talented; it is a connection between God and the
world. By Paracelsus,
Browning's reverence to Shelley is non existent.
The next step in Browning's
spiritual journey occurs about ten years later
when he begins to develop a
dislike for the church. Around 1845, Browning
found himself focusing his anger
on the church as an institution, especially
the Catholic Church. In 1845, Robert
Browning wrote " The Confessional",
a short poem berating the Catholic
Church. Browning writes: It is a lie -
their priests, their pope, Their Saints,
their... all they fear or hope Are
lies...No part in aught they hope or fear! No
heaven with them, no hell!-and
here No earth. (1845) This poem appeared to have
spurned underlying hatred
and suspicion toward the Christian institution. In
1855, Browning wrote
Fra Lippo Lippi. In this story, Browning criticizes the
fact that
Christianity is too ideal for humanity; he does not address whether
God
exists but whether Christian living can truly exist in a corrupt
modern
society (Irvine & Honan, 1974). Here, Browning writes: You'll not
mistake an
idle word spoke in a huff by a poor monk, God wot, tasting the air
this spicy
night... when ladies crowd to church at midsummer. And then I' the
front, of
course a saint or two-...And so all's saved for me, and for the
church, A pretty
picture gained.(1855) Browning notices the insincerity of
the church goers and
clearly satirizes the idea of unearned, expected
salvation. He finds it
difficult to follow such a message. He had strong
belief and faith in the
existence of God, but also disdain in the institution
that followed him. In his
continual attempt to find inner peace, Robert
Browning continued to face
conflicts in his spiritual and religious future.
In 1849, Robert Browning's
mother died. One year later he published two of
his less-famous poems,
"Christmas Eve" and "Easter Day". These poems, due to
their
ambiguity, were neither extremely popular, nor critically praised. The
two
voices in Easter Day, the more powerful of the two poems, are often
difficult to
distinguish. While one maintains that it is difficult to lead a
Christian life,
the other scolds and argues that it is easy. These
associations are tied to the
fall of Adam and Eve and their willingness and
inclination toward evil. The
voice calling to the difficulty of Christianity
states that "He who in all
his works below adapted to the needs of man, Made
love the basis of his
plan...while man who was so fit instead to hate as
every day gave proof"(
line 981), and blames man alone for his fall. The
other sees Christianity as the
ultimate struggle: " With darkness, hunger
toil, distress.. No ease
henceforth, as one that's judged...shut from heaven"
(line 1000, 1030). The
two voices represent the inner conflicts of Robert
Browning. While he blames
himself for the abandonment of the faith of his
mother thereby hurting her, he
sees Christianity as a lifelong struggle in
hopes of something better which
people have yet to explain. It is difficult
to believe in condemnation when it
cannot be proved. Presumably, these poems
represent an argument which Robert
Browning had with himself concerning
his guilt over the death of his mother, and
the abandonment of her
principles. As Browning became older, death became an
ever present danger. He
was confronted with the thought of hell condemnation and
a fear of the
existence of God. Rather than attempting to find secular peace,
Robert
Browning turned his heart and soul toward the Church and all of
its
principles. He was able to accept Christian dogma and believed in God as
a part
of his life, rather than death. As explained in Poetry Criticism:
Browning
concludes his long years of scrutiny not in a theodicy, but in a
reaffirmation
of his personal faith in God and the indestructibility of the
soul. Not what God
means in this vast universe, but what God means to him,
Robert Browning, and to
all believing souls, is the sum and substance of it
all. (p.69) Browning lived
his life with the concept of a God present always
in the world. (DeVane and
Smalley, 1984). His faith was not a philosophy
or religion, but rather involved
intuition. Browning discerned what God meant
to him and what application it had
on his life. His real theme in his poetry
was a "God in the spirit of the
individual"(Markus, 1995 p.221). From his
experiences,as expressed by
professor Royce, Browning "met, in his own way,
the problems set before him
not only by tradition, the Christian conception
of God" (cited in
Payne,1967, p. 200). Robert Browning's spiritual
journey was not one of
disinterest but one of great meditation and thought.
Browning appeared to take
time contemplating his spiritual beliefs. In his
poetry, there is evidence of
God and Christianity in both positive and
negative aspects. Both aspects helped
Browning to make faith decisions
and come to a conclusion that could leave him
in peace. Robert Browning died
December 12, 1889. He faced death with genuine
knowledge of his beliefs
concluding a long and conflictory study of his faith
through the poetry he
wrote. The following poem is an accurate expression of the
spiritual
conclusion that Browning finally came to and freely accepted toward
the end
of his life. "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 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 arreaes Of pain, darkness, and old,
For sudden the
worst turns the best to the brave, The black minute's at end,
And the element's
rage, the fiend-voices that rave, Shall dwindle, shall
blend, Shall change,
shall become first a piece 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!