Analysis of Two In The Campagna by Robert Browning Essay -- Robert Bro

Analysis of "Two In The Campagna" by Robert Browning "Two In The Campagna" is essentially a love poem, written by Browning to capture the tragic and dark aspects of a relationship. The poem commences with romantic images of the couple sitting in the fields of Rome in spring. The first line, starting with 'I wonder' sets the contemplative tone of the piece, and the poet follows one particular trail of thought for several stanzas. Clearly, the poet is trying to capture what cannot be easily confined; he is attempting to articulate a sentiment of fleeting love that perhaps can only be felt. Browning describes the thought floating away over the picturesque scenery: ?Help me to hold it! First it left The yellowing fennel, run to seed There, branching from the brickwork?s cleft?? The flowing lines and use of enjambment represent his thoughts spilling over, almost frolicking through the fields of Rome. This style of poetry is used by Browning regularly: for example in ?Love Among The Ruins? his thoughts flow over from one line to the next ? however the message of this poem is the opposite from ?Two In The Campagna?, as the former depicts the enduring power of passionate love, and the latter describes the natural diminution of feelings after the passionate climax of sex. The poem becomes increasingly vibrant and passionate as the couple evidently become sexually aroused together. In my opinion, the imagery of the beetles inside a flower is incredibly vivid and is one of my personal favourite images in all of Browning?s love poetry: ??Where one small orange cup amassed Five beetles,--blind and green they grope Among the honey-meal?? The images are abundantly fertile, with an intense evocation... ...uch illogically violent ways. However, it does capture the essence of jealousy, possessiveness and the yearning for eternal unity that many people do feel. Browning has evidently taken this to the extreme effectively, as it is his style to shock the reader. In conclusion, Browning uses many different techniques of conveying the complexities of human passion, and does this effectively from many points of view on love. However, it does seem that Browning usually has a slightly subdued, possibly even warped view of love and romance ? and this could be because his own love life was publicly perceived to be ultimately perfect but retrospectively it appears his marriage with Elizabeth Browning was full of doubt and possessiveness, as seen in ?Any Wife To Any Husband? which most critics believe to be based on the troubled relationship between the Browning?s.