Robert Browning’s Andrea del Sarto Essay -- Andrea del Sarto

Robert Brownings Andrea del SartoLucrezia del Sarto (To My Dear Husband) My salutary married man, put away your graduated table of breadOr, pray you, hand it to the dogs the sun Has but an hour to soak up its mid-way trek,And here sit you etching pewter with crust, And smearing cheese and jam with lazy thumbs.Ah, yes osculate me so. Then kiss me better To smother my lips. Your artlessness isWhat makes me smile so, dear, and non your kiss.No, I will speak. And should you be so kind As to listen, youll queue me plainly spoken.Long lead night, in my bed, I dark and turnedAs much as Id suffered your words piece theyTumbled from your lips, I suffered them once More, and more fresh, fettered fast inside my decimal pointLove, the night wore on, black, blank, and at last Thinned. exclusively how you wear me Tell me you sh all(prenominal)(a) apply your promise to each one of the threeTo myself, to my cousin, and to theeI will consecrate you how I mean Do lifes work,Honor your wife , your word, and yourselfIf it pleases you. But be first a manNoa husbandabove all else. Tell me,Tis possibly better to honor yourself?My dear husband, I have much in replyTo offer your last eves soliloquySo perhaps it shall suit you to inspect lessDumbly at my brow and more at my utterWhilst I so plainly speak. Your talents doNot waste themselves on me. Do not doubt it.I am more accepted of your skill than youMay think. And so I am less humored by The fickle errantry of a mind which onceWas sharp and sweet. My pride in you has waned.Pick, pick, pick, but never paint Well enough, You say we ar all only but in Gods Hands Tis not God who binds you down, nor IYour works have touched heaven, but you are lowGod, you think, assign... ...ehind a play of words or a mental puzzle, tempting his reader to dig for it there, later. I have come to respect the rich expressiveness inherent in the dramatic mono-logue format. Without actually stating or describing really much, the po et is able to depict a scene and its props, animate characters, and imply action, emotion, and rhthym for the audience. I discovered that each time I implied action on the weaken of either Lucrezia or Andrea, (put away your plate . . . But heretofore now you entwine me . . .), I was, at the same time, implying actionand its attach to emotionon the part of the second character, as well. The poem becomes a dancea dense, complex web of subtleties and surprises. This poetic form is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to mimic. It carries an intimacy which embraces the poet, the characters, and the reader all at once.