IN A GONDOLA 617. 22. The Three. Enemies of the man, unidentified; one seems to be closely related to the woman: cf. l. 107. 618. 127. Giudecca. One of the canals of Venice. 619. 186-192. The pictures seem to be imaginary, though the artists are well known. Haste-thee-Luke. A nickname for Luca Giordano, a Neapolitan. A GRAMMARIAN'S FUNERAL As My Last Duchess illustrates the artistic taste of the Renaissance period, and The Bishop Orders His Tomb the love of luxury, so this poem exemplifies the devotion to pure learning which characterized some of the Renaissance scholars. Grammarian should be taken in a rather wide sense; it is equivalent to philologist, one who loves learning. Certain of the Grammarian's disciples are carrying the body of their master for burial in one of the Italian hill towns. 26. 'Ware the beholders! An adjuration to the pall-bearers to make a good appearance before spectators: There are people watching us-put your best foot forward!" 620. 33, 34. Apollo was god of song and poetry, and patron of manly beauty; the implication is, therefore, that the Grammarian was not only a handsome man in his youth, but that, if he had chosen, he might have written lyric poetry. 45, 46. The world Bent on escaping. The masterpieces of classical literature which had for centuries lain mouldering in libraries. 50. Gowned. Put on the scholar's gown. 621. 129-131. Hoti, Oun, De. Greek par ticles. Though to some these might have seemed subjects so minute as to be ridiculous, the Grammarian had said the last word on them. THE BISHOP ORDERS HIS TOMB "The Bishop embodies certain tendencies of the Renaissance. No one who studies that marvellous period, whether in its history, its literature, or its plastic art, can fail to be profoundly struck by the way in which Paganism and Christianity, philosophic scepticism and gross superstition, the antique and the modern, enthusiastic love of the beautiful and vile immorality, were all mingled together without much, if any, consciousness of incompatibility or inconsistency." (W. J. Alexander: Introduction to the Poetry of Robert Browning.) Ruskin says, in Modern Painters: "I know no other piece of modern English, prose or poetry, in which there is so much told, as in these lines, of the Renaissance spirit-its world liness, inconsistency, pride, hypocrisy, ignorance of itself, love of art, of luxury, and of good Latin." 621. 5. Gandolf. A fellow churchman of the Bishop's, and a rival in matters ecclesiastic and secular. 8. And as she died so must we die our- 21. The epistle-side. The right-hand 622. 29. Peach-blossom marble. Particularly fine marble of a pinkish hue. 31. Onion-stone. Italian cipollino (little onion), an inferior greenish marble, readily splitting into thin layers, like the coats of an onion. 46. Frascati. A wealthy summer resort near Rome. 49. Jesu Church. Il Gesu, the church of the Jesuits, in which is an image of God, bearing a representation of the earth, made of lapis lazuli. 51, 2. Job, vii: 6, 9. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. . . . So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more." 55. My frieze. Running around the sarcophagus, beneath the slab of basalt. 58. Tripod, thyrsus. Both Pagan symbols: the former connected with the worship of Apollo, whose priestess at Delphi sat upon a tripod when receiving the divine inspiration; the latter the vinewreathed staff carried by the followers of Bacchus. 74. Brown. I. e., with age. 77. Tully's. Cicero's, whose Latin style 82. God made and eaten. I. e., in the 87. Crook. Symbol of the Bishop's authority as shepherd of his people. 623. 95. Saint Praxed at his sermon on the mount. The dying man's mind confuses the two elements of his bas-relief mentioned in 59-60. Praxed was a female saint. 99. Elucescebat. The correct form is elucebat; this is presumably an example of Gandolf's" gaudy ware," 1. 78. 101. Cf. Genesis, xlvii: 9: "And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been." 623. 108. Visor. A mask, like those worn by ancient actors. Term. A bust terminating in a square pedestal, like the representations of Terminus, god of boundaries. 109. Lynx. 116. Gritstone. A coarse sandstone. ANDREA DEL SARTO "This poem was suggested by a portrait of Andrea and his wife, painted by himself and now hanging in the Pitti Gallery at Florence. Andrea is a painter who ranks high among the contemporaries of Raphael and Michel Angelo, especially by reason of his technical execution, which was so perfect as to win for him the surname of The Faultless Painter.' Early in life he enjoyed the favor of Francis I, at whose court he for a time resided; but having received a large sum of money from Francis for the purchase of works of art in Italy, he, under the influence of his wife, a beautiful but unprincipled woman, embezzled it, applying it to the erection of a house for himself at Florence." (W. J. Alexander: Introduction to the Poetry of Robert Browning.) 15. Fiesole. A hill town near Florence. 26. Serpentining. Suggesting a certain sinuous, undulant type of beauty. 35-40. The key-note of the poem. 624. 57. Cartoon. A preliminary sketch, or working design. 82. Low-pulsed forthright craftsman's 93. Morello. A spur of the Apennines, Raphael, born in 106. Vasari. Italian painter and writer of the 16th century, author of Lives of the Painters; he includes a life of Andrea, to which Browning is indebted for material in this poem. 625. 130. Agnolo. Michel Angelo. 146. The Paris lords. Courtiers Francis I, who would have reproached Andrea for his embezzlement. of 150. Fontainebleau. A royal palace near 153. Humane. 155. Mouth's good mark that made the 626. 210. Cue-owls. So-called from the sound of their call; the Italian form is chiu. 220. Cousin. Lucrezia's gallant, who whistles for her to come to him. 626. 241. Scudi. Plural of scudo, a coin worth about a dollar; scudo means shield, and the coin bore on the obverse the shield of the prince who issued it. 627. 263. Leonard. Leonardo da Vinci. PROSPICE Written in the autumn following Mrs. Browning's death. The title means "Look forward." ABT VOGLER Abt (Abbé) Vogler (1749-1814), a German Catholic priest, and famous musician. He invented a new form of the organ, called the orchestrion, upon which he gave performances all over Europe, his improvisations being especially remarkable. 3. Solomon. According to Mohammedan legends, Solomon, thanks to a ring on which was engraved the name of God (1. 7), had control over the demons and genii of the underworld. 628. 23. Rome's dome. The dome of St. Peter's. 34. Protoplast. "The first-formed," the 629. 91. Common chord. The chord produced by the combination of any note with its third and fifth. 93. A ninth. An interval exceeding an octave by a tone (major), or by a semitone_(minor). 96. C Major. The "natural" scale, having neither sharps nor flats. The last six lines of the poem give symbolic expression to the idea that from his supernal visions the musician descends gradually to the realities of every day. RABBI BEN EZRA Ben Ezra was a distinguished Jewish scholar of the twelfth century, noted especially for his commentaries on the Old Testament. The ideas expressed in the poem were to some extent suggested to the poet by Ben Ezra's writings, but Browning develops them in his own way, and makes the poem one of the best expressions of his philosophy of life. 17. Low kinds. The lower animals, living but for the day, untroubled by doubt, uninspired by hope. 629. 24. The awkward inversions are characteristic of Browning: does care irk, etc.? does doubt fret, etc.? 630. 48. Its lone way. In Ben Ezra's commentary on the Psalms we find this sentence: 66 The soul of man is called lonely because it is separated, during its union with the body, from the Universal Soul into which it is again received when it departs from its earthly companion." 49-72. Browning here argues against the ascetic ideal, so popular during the Middle Ages, which proclaimed that spiritual advancement was to be gained through mortification of the flesh. 74. Youth's heritage. The heritage of experience given to age by youth. 87. Leave the fire. If the fire leave. 631. 124, 125. Supply whom after I and they. 151. Potter's wheel. Cf. Isaiah, lxiv: 8: "We are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we are all the work of Thy hand." The metaphor is effectively used by Fitzgerald in his translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. See page 643, 1. 325 f. his Rubáiyát (a plural form; the singular rubáiy means quatrain) in the twelfth century. Fitzgerald describes them, and his own verses, as follows: "The original Rubáiyát are independent Stanzas, consisting each of four Lines of equal, though varied, Prosody; sometimes all rhyming, but oftener (as here imitated) the third line a blank, sometimes as in the Greek Alcaic, where the penultimate line seems to lift and suspend the Wave that falls over in the last. As usual with such kind of Oriental Verse, the Rubaiyát follow one another according to Alphabetic Rhyme-a strange succession of Grave and Gay. Those here selected are strung into something of an Eclogue, with perhaps a less than equal proportion of the "Drink and makemerry," which (genuine or not) occurs over frequently in the Original. Either way, the Result is sad enough: saddest perhaps when most ostentatiously merry: more apt to move Sorrow than Anger toward the old Tent-maker, who, after vainiy endeavoring to unshackle his Steps from Destiny, and to catch some authentic Glimpse of Tomorrow, fell back upon Today (which has outlasted so many Tomorrows!) as the only Ground he got to stand upon, however momentarily slipping from under his Feet." Fitzgerald's method was not so much one of literal translation as of combination and paraphrase; the first edition of 1859 contained 75 quatrains, the second 110, the third and fourth (here reprinted) 101. Most of the changes were in the nature of improvement; it is generally felt, however, that the first stanza was finest in its original form, where it ran as follows: "Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to And Lo! the Hunter of the East has The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light." The wonderful success of the stanza form invented by Fitzgerald, the successive stanzas rolling on in subdued splendor one after another with the stateliness of a pageant, needs no comment. In the text Fitzgerald's usage with regard to capitals and apostrophes has been preserved. The notes that follow are based upon Fitzgerald's own. 637. 5. The phantom of False morning. A transient light on the horizon about an hour before the true dawn. 15. White Hand of Moses. Moses brought his hand forth from his bosom leprous as snow," Exodus, iv: 6; the metaphor is applied to the blooming of the flowers. 66 237. Allah-breathing. Allah-worshipping. 642. 271. Lantern. Fitzgerald's note describes a Magic-Lanthorn still used in India; the cylindrical Interior being painted with various Figures, and so lightly poised and ventilated as to revolve round the lighted Candle within." 277. The ball, etc. The reference is to the game of polo, of ancient Persian origin. 302. Dervish. A Mohammedan devotee. 643. 326. Ramazán. The Mohammedan month of fasting, when no food is eaten between sunrise and sunset. 327 ff. With this use of the metaphor of the potter and the clay compare Browning's in Rabbi Ben Ezra, page 631, 1. 150. 346. Sufi. An adherent of a Persian sect whose belief was pantheistic. 358. The little Moon... that all were 360. Shoulder-knot a-creaking. CARLYLE SARTOR RESARTUS With 644. This, the most influential of Carlyle's works, appeared as a serial in Fraser's Magazine during the years 1833-4. It is an attack upon the materialistic selfsatisfaction of England; an attempt to show that the only ultimate reality is spirit, is God, and that everything material is merely clothing for the Divine Idea, visible manifestation of God. In form the book is somewhat grotesque. It purports to be a long review of a work on clothing, the magnum opus of Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, a German philosopher. Carlyle speaks through the mouth of Teufelsdröckh; the views ex pressed in the chapter here printed are Carlyle's own. At the same time he comments, in his own person, on the ideas propounded by the German, forestalling criticism, and occasionally explaining oracular utterances. The chapter on Natural Supernaturalism is really the culmination of the whole work. 644. 6. The Clothes-Philosophy. The idea that all appearances are merely the clothing of the Divine Idea which alone has ultimate reality. 645. 34. Miracles. Carlyle objected 66 to science because it tended, so he thought, to remove wonder and worship from human life. It tried to explain" the phenomena of life which Carlyle considered divinely miraculous. 47. Schlagbaum. Carlyle sprinkles German words and phrases through Sartor Resartus as proof of the fact that he is merely reviewing Teufelsdröckh's book. 646. 153. Fortunatus. The hero of Thomas Dekker's play Old Fortunatus, well known in popular legend, possessed such a hat. 160. Wahngasse of Weissnichtwo. The city in which Teufelsdröckh is supposed to live Carlyle calls Weissnichtwo"; "I know not where." Wahngasse; dreamlane. 168. Groschen. Small German coin. 647. 264. Thaumaturgy. The art of performing miracles. 275. Stein-bruch. Stone-quarry. 278. Ashlar houses. Houses of hewn or squared stone. 321. Johnson .. went to Cock Lane. See Boswell's Life of Johnson, p. 308. 648. 397. Cimmerian Night. See note on L'Allegro, l. 10. 429. "We are such stuff," etc. The Tempest, IV. i. 156 ff. From 649. 60. Ezekiel. There is no reference to a potter's wheel in Ezekiel. Carlyle has probably confused the "Vision of the Wheels," Ezekiel, i: 15-21, and the reference to the potter's wheel in Jeremiah, xviii: 1-6. 121. Sir Christopher. Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), was the architect entrusted with the rebuilding of St. Paul's Cathedral, destroyed in the London fire of 1666. Nell Gwyn was a favorite of Charles II, whose title included the phrase "Defender of the Faith." 124. The sad and true old Samuel. Per- 140. St. Stephen's. The Parliament 159. Owen's Labor-bank. Robert Owen (1771-1858), a British social reformer, undertook to improve the condition of English laborers, through the establishment of small "ideal communities," including co-operative banks and stores. 168. Downing Street. Many of the offices of the British government are in Downing street. 653. 261. Manes. The souls of the dead, considered as gods of the lower world. 268. Acheron. One of the four rivers of the classical Hades. 270. Dante. The greatest of all Italian poets (1265-1321). The quotations are from his Divine Comedy. 278. Se tu segui, etc. thy star." "If thou followest 288. As poet Dryden says. See Absalom and Achitophel, 11. 79-80. 295. Eurydice from Tartarus. See note on L'Allegro, l. 150. 654. 313. Lath-and-plaster hats. A method of 334. In a Great Taskmaster's eye. An 352. Plugson of Undershot. The typical CROMWELL'S LETTERS AND SPEECHES: THE 655. The battle was fought September 3 (13), 1650. Cromwell's army was suffering from want of food; had Leslie and the Scots remained on Doon Hill, it is probable that Cromwell would have withdrawn by sea. 9. Lambert. John Lambert (1619-1683), Cromwell's second-in-command; one of the most successful of the Parliamentary major-generals. 11. Lesley. David Leslie, afterwards Lord Newark (d. 1682), commander of the Scottish forces. He had previously fought with Cromwell against Charles I. 27. Committee of Estates. The governing committee, in charge of the whole campaign. Gilbert 31. Bishop Burnet. Burnet (1643-1715), Bishop of Salisbury; best known for his History of His Own Time. 656. 79. Monk. George Monk, first Duke of Albermarle (1608-1670), Parliamentary commander during the Civil War, commander of a brigade at Dunbar; later influential in securing the restoration of Charles II. 123. Major Hodgson. John Hodgson (d. 1684), serving in Lambert's regiment. His Memoirs give the best contemporary account of the battle of Dunbar. 124. A Cornet. The lowest grade of commissioned officer in the RUSKIN British MODERN PAINTERS: SUNRISE AND SUNSET From chapter 4, "Of Truth of Clouds," (Part II, section 3, of entire work). Ruskin is arguing that Turner has been more true in his representations of nature than others with whom he is compared; the omitted portions, indicated in the text, are repetitions of the question "Has Claude given this?" 657. 14. Atlantis. A mythical city lost beneath the waves of the Atlantic. 658. 126. Who has best delivered this His message? Ruskin's answer is, of course, Turner. THE TWO BOYHOODS Part IX, chapter 9; the entire chapter is reprinted. 5. Giorgione. Italian painter (14771510), born at Castel-franco. |