Analysis of The Heretic's Tragedy
Robert Browning 1812 (Camberwell) – 1889 (Venice)
PREADMONISHETH THE ABBOT DEODAET.
The Lord, we look to once for all,
Is the Lord we should look at, all at once:
He knows not to vary, saith Saint Paul,
Nor the shadow of turning, for the nonce.
See him no other than as he is!
Give both the infinitudes their due---
Infinite mercy, but, I wis,
As infinite a justice too.
[_Organ: plagal-cadence._
As infinite a justice too.
John, Master of the Temple of God,
Falling to sin the Unknown Sin,
What he bought of Emperor Aldabrod,
He sold it to Sultan Saladin:
Till, caught by Pope Clement, a-buzzing there,
Hornet-prince of the mad wasps' hive,
And clipt of his wings in Paris square,
They bring him now to be burned alive.
[_And wanteth there grace of lute or
clavicithern, ye shall say to confirm
him who singeth---_
We bring John now to be burned alive.
In the midst is a goodly gallows built;
'Twixt fork and fork, a stake is stuck;
But first they set divers tumbrils a-tilt,
Make a trench all round with the city muck;
Inside they pile log upon log, good store;
Faggots no few, blocks great and small,
Reach a man's mid-thigh, no less, no more,---
For they mean he should roast in the sight of all.
We mean he should roast in the sight of all.
Good sappy bavins that kindle forthwith;
Billets that blaze substantial and slow;
Pine-stump split deftly, dry as pith;
Larch-heart that chars to a chalk-white glow:
Then up they hoist me John in a chafe,
Sling him fast like a hog to scorch,
Spit in his face, then leap back safe,
Sing ``Laudes'' and bid clap-to the torch.
_Laus Deo_---who bids clap-to the torch.
John of the Temple, whose fame so bragged,
Is burning alive in Paris square!
How can he curse, if his mouth is gagged?
Or wriggle his neck, with a collar there?
Or heave his chest, which a band goes round?
Or threat with his fist, since his arms are spliced?
Or kick with his feet, now his legs are bound?
---Thinks John, I will call upon Jesus Christ.
[_Here one crosseth himself_
Jesus Christ---John had bought and sold,
Jesus Christ---John had eaten and drunk;
To him, the Flesh meant silver and gold.
(_Salv reverenti._)
Now it was, ``Saviour, bountiful lamb,
``I have roasted thee Turks, though men roast me!
``See thy servant, the plight wherein I am!
``Art thou a saviour? Save thou me!''
'Tis John the mocker cries, ``Save thou me!''
Who maketh God's menace an idle word?
---Saith, it no more means what it proclaims,
Than a damsel's threat to her wanton bird?---
For she too prattles of ugly names.
---Saith, he knoweth but one thing,---what he knows?
That God is good and the rest is breath;
Why else is the same styled Sharon's rose?
Once a rose, ever a rose, he saith.
O, John shall yet find a rose, he saith!
Alack, there be roses and roses, John!
Some, honied of taste like your leman's tongue:
Some, bitter; for why? (roast gaily on!)
Their tree struck root in devil's-dung.
When Paul once reasoned of righteousness
And of temperance and of judgment to come,
Good Felix trembled, he could no less:
John, snickering, crook'd his wicked thumb.
What cometh to John of the wicked thumb?
Ha ha, John plucketh now at his rose
To rid himself of a sorrow at heart!
Lo,---petal on petal, fierce rays unclose;
Anther on anther, sharp spikes outstart;
And with blood for dew, the bosom boils;
And a gust of sulphur is all its smell;
And lo, he is horribly in the toils
Of a coal-black giant flower of hell!
What maketh heaven, That maketh hell.
So, as John called now, through the fire amain.
On the Name, he had cursed with, all his life---
To the Person, he bought and sold again---
For the Face, with his daily buffets rife---
Feature by feature It took its place:
And his voice, like a mad dog's choking bark,
At the steady whole of the Judge's face---
Died. Forth John's soul flared into the dark.
SUBJOINETH THE ABBOT DEODAET.
God help all poor souls lost in the dark!
A MIDDLE-AGE INTERLUDE.
ROSA MUNDI; SEU, FULCITE ME FLORIBU
Scheme | a bcbxxaxAcA adadefefgxxf ahahgbgb b ijijklkl l aeaeaaaaf axaamnmn n aoaopxpi i qrqrxsxs s pacatutu u dvxvwxwx a x a x |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101 01111111 1011111111 111110111 101110101 111101111 110111 10010111 11000101 111 11000101 110101011 10110011 11111001 111110100 1111100101 10110111 011110101 111111101 1111111 1111101 1111 111111101 0011010101 11010111 111110101 1011110101 0111101111 1111101 101111111 11111100111 1111100111 11111011 101101001 11110111 111110111 111111001 11110111 10111111 11011101 11111101 110101111 110010101 111111111 1101110101 111110111 1111111111 1111111111 1111101101 1111 10111101 101111001 110111001 11 11111001 1110111111 1110010111 1101111 11011111 111101101 111111101 101110101 111101101 111111111 111100111 111011101 101100111 111110111 111100101 11111111 110111101 11110101 111101100 01100011011 110101111 1100101101 1101110101 11111111 1101101011 110110111 111111 011110101 0011101111 0111100001 1011101011 1110111 1111110101 1011111111 1010110101 1011110101 101101111 0111011101 1010110101 111110101 10101 111111001 010110 10101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,028 |
Words | 739 |
Sentences | 67 |
Stanzas | 21 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 10, 12, 8, 1, 8, 1, 9, 8, 1, 8, 1, 8, 1, 8, 1, 8, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 98 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 3:44 min read
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"The Heretic's Tragedy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30421/the-heretic%27s-tragedy>.
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