Sordello (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Browning
- First Published: 1840
- Type of Work: Narrative>
- Genres: Poetry, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: History, Politics, Love or romance, Marriage, Class consciousness, Poetry or poets, Italy or Italians, Middle Ages
The Poem
Sordello is commonly described as the least comprehensible poem written in the English language. Its publication caused the author unending troubles with the critics of his day. Robert Browning wrote it between the years 1833 and 1840; he apparently wrote four different versions, each with a somewhat different purpose in mind. The version most often read today is a poem of 5,982 lines in iambic pentameter, rhyming in couplets, and including running titles that summarize the action.
Browning’s historical sources for the story appear to have been...
[The entire page is 2585 words long]
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