OBSCURITY IN BROWNING’S POETRY 

Robert Browning is one of the most remarkable poets of Victorian era. His poems are often noticed to be incomprehensible and obscure. In fact, the most glaring drawback of Browning’s poetry is obscurity in it. He has been criticized because of his obscurity.

 

In the early period of his poetry, he was discarded on the ground of his obscure and incomprehensive style of composing poetry but, with the passage of time, profound and deep study of Browning’s masterpiece proved that he should not be regarded as an obscure poet because his poetry is not as incomprehensible as it is considered to be.

 

The matter of fact is that it is impossible to write psychological poems in a simple, direct and straightforward way. But R. Browning was one of the most difficult poets who dealt with the exposition of man’s inner clock work. He wrote not to please his readers or the critics but himself. He cared little for the criticism of many of his poems. He wrote to Tennyson;

 

“I cannot alter myself, people must take me as they find me.”

 

His use of parenthesis ( ) creates difficulty even in the poems which are otherwise very easy and simple to comprehend.

 

The Bishop in ‘Bishop Orders His Tomb’ wishes his sons to decorate his tomb with Lapis Lazuli, Jasper and Basalt etc. Browning uses these uncommon words without keeping in mind that a number of his readers would be unaware of these things. Besides this, his reference to Tully and Ulpian, and the use of words like ELUCESCEBAT create unintelligibility.

 

According to some critics, obscurity in R. Browning’s poetry is a piece of intellectual vanity. But G.K. Chesterton speaks in Browning’s favour;

 

“Browning was not unintelligible because he was proud but unintelligible because he was humble.”

 

He was humble enough to think that what he knew was quite commonplace and was known even to the man in street. His thoughts were clear and obvious to him and he thought that others would also find his ideas clear and transparent.

 

His poetry becomes obscure because of an abundance of allusions and references from history, mythology and Bible. In some of his poems he uses Latin sentences which prove to be a great hindrance in the way of continuity and comprehension.

 

For example, in ‘Fra Lippo Lippi’, Lippo says that his picture would attract the church authorities and kings and they would say at once;

 Iste perfecit opus

(He is the only perfect artist)

 

When ‘Sordello’ was published, it was regarded as a hopelessly obscure poem. Mrs. Carlyle read the poem and could not understand;

 “Whether Sordello was a man, a city or a book”.

 

Dr. Jerrold, just recovered from a long illness, read the poem and exclaimed in great panic;

 

“I am an idiot. My health is restored but my mind is gone.”

 

Browning violates grammar in his poems. For example, in ‘Grammarian’s Funeral’, he not only buries the Grammarian but also buries the grammar, meaning thereby he paid little heed to Grammar.

 

To conclude, we may say that Robert Browning was a great poet of his time. Though the readers find his poetry difficult and obscure, yet they enjoy the deep meanings conveyed through verses. He was a perpetual fountain of good sense.