Discussion Topic
Background and concerns in Browning's "Meeting at Night"
Summary:
In Browning's "Meeting at Night," the narrative follows a lover's journey across land and sea to meet their beloved. The poem emphasizes themes of longing, secrecy, and the excitement of a clandestine meeting. The lover's careful and quiet approach underscores the intensity and urgency of their emotions, reflecting the obstacles and societal constraints they face.
What is the background of the poem "Meeting at Night"?
Background of "Meeting at Night"
The paired poems, "Meeting at Night" and "Parting at Morning," originally formed one single poem when first published in Browning's Pomegranates and Bells in 1845. They were listed in the table of contents as one poem and were titled "Night and Morning; I. Night; II. Morning" as one single, but two-part, poem. It was in the 1849 reissue of the collection under the now familiar title Dramatic Romances and Lyrics that Browning separated the poems and presented them as individual poems under the present titles "Meeting at Night" and "Parting at Morning." In a sense, this set the poems at an analytical disadvantage and gave a disadvantage to future readers who may be unaware of the two parts and the relationship between them. To illustrate, while it is clear from the last line of "II. Morning"/"Parting at Morning" that Browning alludes to the...
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Victorian cultural emphasis upon the separation of the world of men from the world of women, the division of the poems into "Meeting at Night" and "Parting at Morning" isolates that theme to "Parting," whereas a reading of them as one unit might illuminate "I. Night"/"Meeting at Night" under the light of the same theme. As individual, separate poems, however, this theme is not present in the text of "Meeting at Night" alone.
What is Browning's concern in the poem "Meeting at Night"?
Robert Browning's concern in the poem "Meeting at Night" is to see his beloved as quietly and secretly as possible. In the first stanza, the poem describes his arduous journey to his beloved, which involves bringing a boat ashore in a cove, perhaps to hide his means of transportation. In the second stanza, he crosses "a mile of warm sea-scented beach" and three fields. He then raps lightly on the window of his beloved's house, in a "quick sharp scratch" and sees a blue streak, indicating that a match has been lit. When he speaks to his beloved, though it is with "joys," he must use a quiet voice. All of these clues suggest that he is attempting to meet with his beloved quietly, so he won't be noticed by other people in the house. In fact, Browning had to meet with his future wife, Elizabeth Barrett, often clandestinely, and the two began their relationship through letters. The lovers had to elope to be married.