A Woman's Last Word-Robert Browning

Women, Women, Women…

 

A Woman’s Last Word

I

Let’s contend no more, Love,

Strive nor weep;

All be as before, Love,

-Only Sleep!

 

II

What so wild as words are?

I and thou

In debate, as birds are,

Hawk on bough!

 

III

See the creature stalking

While we speak!

Hush and hide the talking,

Cheek on cheek!

 

IV

What so false as truth is,

False to thee?

Where the serpent’s tooth is

Shun the tree—

 

V

Where the apple reddens

Never pry—

Lest we lose our Edens,

Eve and I.

 

VI

Be a god and hold me

With a charm!

Be a man and fold me

With thine arm!

 

VII

Teach me, only teach, Love!

As I ought

I will speak thy speech, Love

Think thy thought—

 

VIII

Meet, if thou require it,

Both demands,

Laying flesh and spirit

In thy hands.

 

IX

That shall be to-morrow

Not to night:

I must bury sorrow

Out of sight:

 

X

-Must a little weep, Love,

(Foolish me!)

And so fall asleep, Love,

Love by thee.

I chose Robert Browning’s Piece “A Woman’s Last Word” because this poem may seem short, but there is a lot of meaning and emotion that shines through in this poem. This poem also relates to a real life situation that any reader could see happening in their everyday life. A woman and a man are arguing over something that had previously happened, and the woman is trying to challenge him. The poem takes place at the woman’s and man’s house and it seems like there is a lot of tension throughout the poem. The speaker in this poem is very clear; it’s the woman in this poem or also known as the wife. Just by the first stanza you can tell that this is a woman speaking “Let’s contend no more, Love,/Strive nor weep:/All be as before, Love,/-Only Sleep!) (1-4). The problem that is stated in this poem is the conflict about what we sacrifice or give up in ourselves in order to have love. Each stanza(s) has a different meaning, and I will explain to you what Browning was trying to make the reader see throughout his poem.

            When the poem beings, the wife is speaking, and the wife states in the first three stanzas of the poem that she is mad at her husband for something that happened previously. Throughout the poem the reader doesn’t know what caused this argument to happen or even why the couple is arguing. It seems like the couple bickers quite often because later in the poem, the wife seems to be really frustrated with how much they fight/argue and how it’s “ruining” their relationship. In stanza II Browning writes “In debate, as birds are,/ Hawk on bough!” (7-8). Here, the reader sees the imagery of the hawk and probably thinks about what they know about a hawk. A simple definition of a hawk is a “bird of prey” (Miller). With the imagery of the hawk, the reader sees that this is a threatening type of imagery. I saw it in a hunting/fighting kind of way because this is where the tension of the argument arises. We still don’t know what the couple is arguing about, but we can get a sense that she just wants it to stop.

            The next two stanzas (IV and V) talk about truth and knowledge. “What so false as truth is,/False to thee?” (13-14). Then “Where the apple reddens/Never pry-/Lest we lose our Edens,/Eve and I.” (17-20). Again, the reader can see that the speaker is just getting frustrated with the situation. The woman is trying to figure out what’s true and what’s not because all she wants is to hear from him is the truth. The reader can also tell in these stanzas that if the husband and wife don’t fix/solve their problems then their relationship will decline. The woman would lose the sense of who she was and their relationship won’t be the same as it used to be when they didn’t argue. We see this in a lot of relationships today…Men and women have had a great few months together, but after bickering and fighting about little stupid things makes their feelings towards each other decrease including their marriage to decrease as well.

            “Be a god and hold me/With a charm!/Be a man and fold me/With thine arm!” (21-24). When reading stanzas VI, VII, and VII the reader can see that the speaker is just trying to forget about their argument and move on. It’s not worth fighting if it’s going to ruin the relationship. The woman is saying “well, fine then, don’t tell me the truth. Instead, man up and be my husband. If I’m doing something that annoys you then please tell me and teach me so that I can change, and so that we can get along.” We see the speaker mention in stanza VII about how the husband should teach her to be better “Teach me, only teach, Love!/As I ought/I will speak thy speech, Love,/Think thy thought—“ (25-28). Again, this relates to real-life relationships because everyone wants to know what they are doing wrong, because if you don’t know nothing will ever get better. Relationships fall apart if there is no connection and if the other person isn’t willing to change. This could be a symbol of not caring about the relationship they are in…if they aren’t going to change then why fight for the woman?

            The last two stanzas of the poem (IX and X) are a little different. As I was reading through the poem I didn’t see it ending the way it does. “That shall be to-morrow/Not to night:/I must bury sorrow/Out of sight:” (33-36). Here, the speaker makes the listener wait till morning. I definitely thought the poem was going to end on a happy note with everything being resolved, but no she wants to wait till morning because that’s when they’ll start fresh. Arguing and bickering is tiring and if that’s happening a lot then I can only imagine how tired the speaker is. As women, we get frustrated really easily and just want to sleep on it and figure it out in the morning, but the speaker also states that “but for now I’m going to have myself a good cry, goodnight.” The last two lines in the poem “And so fall asleep, Love/Loved by thee.” (39-40). Here we see that the speaker gets the last word hence the title “A Woman’s Last Word”.

            Even though the reader never finds out why the couple is arguing the poem is still very powerful and very emotional. And like I stated above a lot of things in this poem compare to real-life relationships today. There is no such thing as a “perfect” relationship, just like there is no such thing as a “perfect” person. It’s ok for couples to argue and bicker because it’s a learning experience for both, and this only makes the heart stronger, but if this is happening all the time then someone’s going to be questioning the relationship. It’s just like the saying “each day is a new day.” Each day is a new day, and that’s why the speaker just wants to sleep on it and get back to it in the morning because you never know, but everything could be all better without even talking about the argument.

            As the role of a listener, I enjoyed the poem. I had to re-read the poem about three times to finally understand what was going on, but I chose this poem because of the powerful emotion in it, along with comparing the poem to real-life relationships. The speaker tricked at least me in this poem with the ending. I really thought that I was going to find out why the couple was arguing, but I never did. I also saw this poem as a lesson too because if you are in a relationship where fighting is a big thing then something isn’t right…either one of you isn’t happy, or one of you needs to change. Communication with one another is key in any relationship and this poem clearly states that. I think that’s what Browning’s main point in writing this poem was. He wants the reader to understand that this is going to happen in every relationship, but if it gets to a certain point then what are we willing to sacrifice? Looks like you have to do it for the love of your relationship.

 

Sources Cited:

Browning, Robert. “A Woman’s Last Word.” Poetry X. Ed. Jough Dempsey. 16 Jun 2003. 29

Oct. 2013.  

Miller, Gil. "All About Birds." Red-tailed Hawk, Identification,. N.p., Fall 2009. Web. 29 Oct.  

2013.