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Unit 29: Robert Browning: My Last Duchess and the Last Ride Together

“Where but to think is to be full of sorrow”, “Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,/Or new Notes
love pine at them beyond tomorrow.” He had a genuine interest in the world and human life, which
he considered to be real and good, for he found many things that were good in it.
Optimism is a philosophy, a considered judgment on life. Often though not necessarily, associated
with happiness, which is mainly a matter of temperament. Fra Lippo Lippi’s philosophy, his
optimistic judgment on life, is summed up in his belief that:
“This world’s no blot for us,
Nor blank—it means intensely, and means good,
To find its meaning is my meat and drink.”

Although Lippo is a dramatic character, Browning’s own voice and attitude to life speak through
him, eloquent in every touch of delighted description of nature, of human beauty, or of the man-
made scene. Again in the same poem we have another statement, recognizing the goodness of the
world—
“The world and life’s too long to pass for a dream.”

“Andrea del Sarto” is a poem which has to be viewed in a wider context than the special one of the
artist’s life and activity, for it expresses an important aspect of Browning’s philosophy. In posing
the questions “what is success?” “What is failure?” and exploring the reality rather than the
appearance of each, the poet is envisaging the life of not only the creative artist but of men in
general. In this poem Browning emphasizes the necessity of keeping high ideals in one’s life. He
should set his goal as high as possible even though it may be impossible to attain in this life:

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed disgrace,
Or what’s a Heaven for?”
says the unhappy Andrea del Sarto, who realizes he has failed because he has set his goal too low.
Success, in the world’s sense, may in the light of eternity be failure; failure, in the world’s sense,
may be lasting success. Man is judged by God by his aspirations, his noble ideals, and his efforts to
achieve success in life. In God’s view success is not the yardstick to judge a man’s earthly life. A
man who has failed in a noble struggle is likely to be placed on a higher pedestal in the kingdom of
God as compared to the man who aspires to gain little and succeeds in achieving that little in his
life. This faith that man’s success would be judged not by achievements only but by his efforts and
endeavors too, is voiced fervently in “Rabbi Ben Ezra”:

“But all, the worlds’ coarse thumb
And finger failed to plumb,
So passed in making up the main account,
All instincts immature,
All purposes unsure,
That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man’s account.”
[Rabbi Ben Ezra: Robert Browning]

Browning believes that on earth we have the “broken arc” but in heaven there is “the perfect round”.
But despite earth’s—and man’s—imperfections, man’s highest duty is to strive toward perfection
of himself. In “Rabbi Ben Ezra” comes the counsel:

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