A Blot In The 'Scutcheon: "Take away love and our earth is a tomb"
()
About this ebook
Robert Browning is one of the most significant Victorian Poets and, of course, English Poetry.
Much of his reputation is based upon his mastery of the dramatic monologue although his talents encompassed verse plays and even a well-regarded essay on Shelley during a long and prolific career.
He was born on May 7th, 1812 in Walmouth, London. Much of his education was home based and Browning was an eclectic and studious student, learning several languages and much else across a myriad of subjects, interests and passions.
Browning's early career began promisingly. The fragment from his intended long poem Pauline brought him to the attention of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and was followed by Paracelsus, which was praised by both William Wordsworth and Charles Dickens. In 1840 the difficult Sordello, which was seen as willfully obscure, brought his career almost to a standstill.
Despite these artistic and professional difficulties his personal life was about to become immensely fulfilling. He began a relationship with, and then married, the older and better known Elizabeth Barrett. This new foundation served to energise his writings, his life and his career.
During their time in Italy they both wrote much of their best work. With her untimely death in 1861 he returned to London and thereafter began several further major projects.
The collection Dramatis Personae (1864) and the book-length epic poem The Ring and the Book (1868-69) were published and well received; his reputation as a venerated English poet now assured.
Robert Browning died in Venice on December 12th, 1889.
Robert Browning
Robert Browning (1812-1889) was an English poet and playwright. Browning was born in London to an abolitionist family with extensive literary and musical interests. He developed a skill for poetry as a teenager, while also learning French, Greek, Latin, and Italian. Browning found early success with the publication of Pauline (1833) and Paracelsus (1835), but his career and notoriety lapsed over the next two decades, resurfacing with his collection Men and Women (1855) and reaching its height with the 1869 publication of his epic poem The Ring and the Book. Browning married the Romantic poet Elizabeth Barrett in 1846 and lived with her in Italy until her death in 1861. In his remaining years, with his reputation established and the best of his work behind him, Browning compiled and published his wife’s final poems, wrote a series of moderately acclaimed long poems, and traveled across Europe. Browning is remembered as a master of the dramatic monologue and a defining figure in Victorian English poetry.
Read more from Robert Browning
The Christmas Collection: All Of Your Favourite Classic Christmas Stories, Novels, Poems, Carols in One Ebook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Christmas Library: 250+ Essential Christmas Novels, Poems, Carols, Short Stories...by 100+ Authors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/550 Classic Love Poems You Have To Read (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of Robert Browning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pied Piper of Hamelin - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Christmas Stories: 120+ Authors, 250+ Magical Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Golf: The Royal and Ancient Game Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pied Piper of Hamelin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Agamemnon of Æschylus: "The past is gained, secure, and on record" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ring and the Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christmas Carols & Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry Hour - Volume 13 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Christmas Library: 100+ Authors, 200 Novels, Novellas, Stories, Poems and Carols Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ring and the Book (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bethlehem Carols - 150+ Christmas Carols, Songs & Poems for the Holy Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pied Piper of Hamelin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Blot In The 'Scutcheon
Related ebooks
A Blot in the 'Scutcheon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert Browning: The Complete Works Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert Browning – The Complete Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Essential Robert Browning Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrafford: "What Youth deemed crystal, Age finds out was dew" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe City Madam: "Such as ne'er saw swans May think crows beautiful" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cardinal: "Heaven's the perfection of all that can be said or thought" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nice Valour: or, The Passionate Madman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarold: A Drama: "A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Revenge: or, A Match in Newgate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA New Way to Pay Old Debts: "Death hath a thousand doors to let out life: I shall find one" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuch Things Are: 'How different does his Lordship appear to me, to me he is all politesse'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Imposture: “Knaves will thrive when honest plainness knows not how to live” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wild-Goose Chase: "Drink today, and drown all sorrow; you shall perhaps not do tomorrow" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Witch: “The slowest kiss makes too much haste.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecket: "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Guardian: "The soul is strong that trusts in goodness" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Taming of the Shrew Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Strings To Your Bow: 'I wish, with all my heart, he was under ground'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCymbeline Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Welsh Opera: "Without adversity a person hardly knows whether they are honest or not" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll's Well That Ends Well Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prisoner of Zenda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Here and There in London Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanessa: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man of Mode: or, Sir Fopling Flutter. A Comedy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Miscellany of Poems by G. K. Chesterton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwelfth Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Performing Arts For You
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Macbeth (new classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slave Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Dolls House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStar Wars: Book of Lists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Life in Parts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Blot In The 'Scutcheon
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Blot In The 'Scutcheon - Robert Browning
A Blot In The 'Scutcheon’ by Robert Browning
A Tragedy
Bells and Pomegranates Number V
Robert Browning is one of the most significant Victorian Poets and, of course, English Poetry.
Much of his reputation is based upon his mastery of the dramatic monologue although his talents encompassed verse plays and even a well-regarded essay on Shelley during a long and prolific career.
He was born on May 7th, 1812 in Walmouth, London. Much of his education was home based and Browning was an eclectic and studious student, learning several languages and much else across a myriad of subjects, interests and passions.
Browning's early career began promisingly. The fragment from his intended long poem Pauline brought him to the attention of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and was followed by Paracelsus, which was praised by both William Wordsworth and Charles Dickens. In 1840 the difficult Sordello, which was seen as willfully obscure, brought his career almost to a standstill.
Despite these artistic and professional difficulties his personal life was about to become immensely fulfilling. He began a relationship with, and then married, the older and better known Elizabeth Barrett. This new foundation served to energise his writings, his life and his career.
During their time in Italy they both wrote much of their best work. With her untimely death in 1861 he returned to London and thereafter began several further major projects.
The collection Dramatis Personae (1864) and the book-length epic poem The Ring and the Book (1868-69) were published and well received; his reputation as a venerated English poet now assured.
Robert Browning died in Venice on December 12th, 1889.
Index of Contents
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ACT I
SCENE I.—The Interior of a Lodge in Lord Tresham's Park
SCENE II.—A Saloon in the Mansion
SCENE III.—Mildred’s Chamber. A Painted Window Overlooks the Park
ACT II
SCENE.—The Library
ACT III
SCENE I.—The End of the Yew-tree Avenue Under Mildred’s Window
SCENE II.—Mildred’s Chamber
Robert Browning – A Short Biography
Robert Browning – A Concise Bibliography
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
MILDRED TRESHAM.
GUENDOLEN TRESHAM.
THOROLD, Earl Tresham.
AUSTIN TRESHAM.
HENRY, Earl Mertoun.
GERARD, and other retainers of Lord Tresham.
ACT I
SCENE I.—The Interior of a Lodge in Lord Tresham's Park
Many Retainers crowded at the window, supposed to command a view of the entrance to his Mansion.
GERARD, the Warrener, his back to a table on which are flagons, etc.
FIRST RETAINER
Ay, do! push, friends, and then you'll push down me!
—What for? Does any hear a runner's foot
Or a steed's trample or a coach-wheel's cry?
Is the Earl come or his least poursuivant?
But there's no breeding in a man of you
Save Gerard yonder: here's a half-place yet,
Old Gerard!
GERARD
Save your courtesies, my friend. Here is my place.
SECOND RETAINER
Now, Gerard, out with it!
What makes you sullen, this of all the days
I' the year? To-day that young rich bountiful
Handsome Earl Mertoun, whom alone they match
With our Lord Tresham through the country-side,
Is coming here in utmost bravery
To ask our master's sister's hand?
GERARD
What then?
SECOND RETAINER
What then? Why, you, she speaks to, if she meets
Your worship, smiles on as you hold apart
The boughs to let her through her forest walks,
You, always favourite for your no-deserts,
You've heard, these three days, how Earl Mertoun sues
To lay his heart and house and broad lands too
At Lady Mildred's feet: and while we squeeze
Ourselves into a mousehole lest we miss
One congee of the least page in his train,
You sit o' one side—there's the Earl,
say I—
What then?
say you!
THIRD RETAINER
I'll wager he has let
Both swans he tamed for Lady Mildred swim
Over the falls and gain the river!
GERARD
Ralph,
Is not to-morrow my inspecting-day
For you and for your hawks?
FOURTH RETAINER
Let Gerard be!
He's coarse-grained, like his carved black cross-bow stock.
Ha, look now, while we squabble with him, look!
Well done, now—is not this beginning, now,
To purpose?
FIRST RETAINER
Our retainers look as fine—
That's comfort. Lord, how Richard holds himself
With his white staff! Will not a knave behind
Prick him upright?
FOURTH RETAINER
He's only bowing, fool!
The