Wow is the word that comes to mind when reading this poem. It's starts out like love story and ends in tragedy.
This poem reminds me of women who have been so hurt in past relationships that they put up a wall to protect their feelings or they avoid relationships altogether. Porphyria was so deeply in love with the story's narrator but had been reluctant to reveal her feelings and act upon them. "Murmuring how she loved me-she too weak, for all her heart's endeavor, to set its struggling passion free, from pride, and vainer ties dissever, and give herself to me for ever." (p.663 21-25) But sometimes Cupid's arrow has a way of penetrating our walls and we finally give in to the person we perceive we can trust to return the love. Porphyria , as most determined women, would not let rain, wind, or fallen trees deter her once she decided to give love a chance. "But passion sometimes would prevail...so, she come through wind and rain." (26,30)
The narrator was obviously head over heals in love because although the rain storm had to be quiet noisy, he "listened with heart fit to break." (p. 662, 5) But when she comes in, he acts as though he was not aware of her presence. This reminds me of my teenage dating days, when I would sit by the window looking down the road to see when my date was coming. Then I would go to my room, so my mom would have to call for me when he arrived.
The narrator seems to have been seeking the love and attention of Porphyria for quite sometime and may have never gotten over the rejection, especially since he didn't know how she really felt. "Be sure I looked up at her eyes happy and proud; at last I knew Porphyria worshipped me; surprise made my heart swell, and still it grew while I debated what to do." (p. 663, 31-35 ) Now that he finally got her where he wants her, it seems instead of returning the love and affection, he relishes in it, then punishes her for not showing it sooner. "That moment she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and good: I found a thing to do, and all her hair in one long yellow string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her." (36-40)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sherri,
Very nice commentary on Browning's poem. You do a good job of paying attention to the text and connecting it to your own experiences (except, thankfully, at the end). Much improvement!
Sherri,
Nice blog. I too couldn't get over the idea that Porphyria is strangled by her own beautiful hair by her "lover". This was a bit too strange for me! I was trying to explain it to my sister the other day and it was to bizarre for her to even follow.
Post a Comment