Love in a Life / Life in a Love 1855 Women and Men – two poems, set as companion pieces Title tells us of their link. Alliteration – connection between these concepts: life and love What do we know about these poems? What do the titles tell us?

"LOVE IN A LIFE" represents the lover as inhabiting the same house with his unseen love; and pursuing her in it ceaselessly from room to room, always catching the flutter of her retreating presence, always sure that the next moment he will overtake her.   "LIFE IN A LOVE" might be the utterance of the same person, when he has grasped the fact that the loved one is determined to elude him. She may baffle his pursuit, but he will never desist from it, though it absorb his whole life.

Context “In this House of Life, where I go, you go – where I ascend you run before, - where I descend, it is after you.” - Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/sonnet-43-how-do-i-love-thee/11533.html Therefore the house of this poem may be read as the ‘house of life’ which the lovers share. In this case, suites, closets and alcoves could be read as the woman’s thoughts and emotions.

I hunt the house through We inhabit together. Room after room, I hunt the house through We inhabit together. Heart, fear nothing, for, heart, thou shalt find her— Next time, herself!—not the trouble behind her 5 Left in the curtain, the couch's perfume! As she brushed it, the cornice-wreath blossomed anew: Yon looking-glass gleamed at the wave of her feather. II Yet the day wears, And door succeeds door; 10 I try the fresh fortune— Range the wide house from the wing to the centre. Still the same chance! she goes out as I enter. Spend my whole day in the quest,—who cares? But 'tis twilight, you see,—with such suites to explore, 15 Such closets to search, such alcoves to importune! Also notice repetition of ‘room after room’ – sense of ongoing hunt. Hunt is more predatory and urgent. They are of one mind – allegorical space is shared. They share ideas and thoughts; are a perfect match. 3a. Reassuring himself. Pauses before “next time” as if catching breath before insisting it will be her he finds. 3b. Troubling to him because she evades him? Sense of frustration. He catches glimpses and vestiges of her but not the actual person he longs for. 4. They are brought to life by her mere presence – suggests her vitality and beauty. Positive effect on all she encounters. Cf. ‘trouble’. The trouble is that he keeps missing her. 5. Less optimistic. Repetition again (door/ door cf. room / room) but this time it suggests lack of success. 6. Central image of the poem: he just misses her again and again. Constant search. 7. Use of hyphens to separate reaction from seemingly pessimistic words (whole day – who cares? Twilight – such ____ to explore / search / importune!) if reading given in context is taken then this becomes a sense of looking forward to sharing ideas and thoughts with his love before finally connecting with her. Suggests he will succeed eventually. Ask (someone) pressingly and persistently for or to do something: "I should importune him with my questions". http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/robert-browning-love-in-a-life-poem-only/8116.html

While I am I, and you are you, Escape me? Never— Beloved! While I am I, and you are you,          So long as the world contains us both, 5          Me the loving and you the loth, While the one eludes, must the other pursue. My life is a fault at last, I fear: It seems too much like a fate, indeed! Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed. 10 But what if I fail of my purpose here? It is but to keep the nerves at strain, To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall, And, baffled, get up and begin again,— So the chase takes up one's life, that's all. 15 While, look but once from your farthest bound At me so deep in the dust and dark, No sooner the old hope goes to ground Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark, I shape me— 20 Ever Removed! Unwilling; reluctant Failure Hunting term used to describe the situation when the pursuing hounds lose the scent of their prey Maybe all of these things. Juxtaposition of ‘beloved’ and ‘escape’ – troubling. Opposites of ‘I’ and ‘you’; alliterative joining of ‘loving’ and ‘loth’ – again, binary opposites. The distance between them is clear. Emotions are also obvious. Is this the same couple as the previous poem? Perhaps a different reading? He thinks she’s ‘playing’ but also regards her as prey – he relishes the pursuit. Rhyming couplet – seems like a natural end (cf. sonnet). But the poem goes on. He’s not really resigned to his fate at all. Rhetorical question starts up again: considering possibilities – his purpose is to go on pursuing. Determined tone. The chase. The quest itself seems to be the important thing: straining nerves, dealing with a fall, getting up and starting again --- this takes up one’s life. Rhyme abab to stress cohesion of hunt. it is what is important and is whole in and of itself. Gloomy, bleak. Previous line also highlights distance from his ‘love’. He loses one hope and gains another. Will never give up. “Escape me?” “I shape me” – he is in charge. “Never” “Ever” – doesn’t matter that he will not be successful as the hunt is the thrill. “Beloved” “Removed” – she will always be removed from him. Sinister overtone?

Language - Comparison Different tones in each poem due to language use used to describe the search for love: Love in a Life: ‘range’ ‘explore’ (tentative) Life in a Love: ‘pursue’ ‘chase’ (dynamic)

Imagery ‘Love’ is set in a domestic setting (“house”) vs the “world” of ‘Life’. In ‘Love’ the woman is described as bird-like and teasing: “wave of feather” (8) house has “wing” (12) In ‘Life’, she is fixed as the “loth” (6), the unwilling.

Form Dramatic monologues – are they the same speaker? The same situation from a different viewpoint? ‘Love’ is split into two numbered stanzas – indicating the speaker’s move from despondency to hope. ‘Life’ is in one stanza, but the closing lines answer the opening lines as a sort of echo and spur to move the speaker on. How do you think the layout of the poems reflect the different attitudes of the speakers?

Structure Complicated rhyme schemes in both, which reflect the nature of their search. ‘Love’ = disjointed meter (switches between iambic and trochaic). Rhymes are spread out (abcddabc). ‘Life’ = concentric rhymes (abba) before progressing to alternate lines. Largely uses iambic tetrameter... there is a constant sense of pace. ‘Love’ lacks the rigour and vigour of ‘Life’. It is more disjointed. Why do you think this is?