Flammonde by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Flammonde is a mysterious stranger who appears in Tilbury Town with an air of foreign experience, royal authority, cultivated taste, and unquestioned distinction. Though he borrows what he needs to live and never explains his past or the cause of his fall from better circumstances, he wins friends, quiets discontent, and charms the town, especially its women. His manner makes him seem both genuinely noble and perhaps too perfectly suited to a role he may be playing. He shows unusual generosity and insight. He refuses to join in the town’s condemnation of a distressed woman, exposing the smallness of those who gossip about her. He recognizes the promise of a gifted boy and helps secure, through a little money, the education that opens the youth’s future. He also reconciles two citizens whose pointless quarrel has burdened themselves and their friends. Yet Flammonde remains unknowable. The townspeople wonder what flaw, loss, or hidden darkness prevented him from attaining the destiny that seemed near him. His charm suggests a shielded inner life, and they cannot determine how much of the man they truly knew. They conclude that his gifts to others do not erase his right to keep part of himself private, for nature rarely grants someone both the power to be like Flammonde and the ability to live easily with it. Remembering what he gave them, the people of Tilbury Town continue to look beyond the horizons for him.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1910 · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Character Study, Dramatic Monologue · 771 words
First lines
THE MAN Flammonde, from God knows where, / With firm address and foreign air, / With news of nations in his talk
And something royal in his walk, / With glint of iron in his eyes,
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Flammonde is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1910 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1910 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Character Study, Dramatic Monologue, Psychological Poetry, Social Realism
- Length: 771 words
- Structure: 1 section, 72 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Flammonde by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Narrative Poetry — The poem recounts the arrival, actions, influence, and disappearance of the enigmatic Flammonde through a sustained story-like portrait.
- Character Study — Its central purpose is to examine Flammonde's charismatic, aristocratic manner, concealed history, moral ambiguity, and lasting effect on others.
- Dramatic Monologue — A collective first-person town speaker addresses the reader, presenting Flammonde through the judgments, memories, suspicions, and limitations of Tilbury Town.
- Psychological Poetry — The work dwells on uncertainty about identity, hidden motives, social perception, envy, admiration, and the unknowability of another person's inner life.
Tags
poetry · narrative poem · American literature · early twentieth century · small-town life · enigmatic stranger · idealism · mystery · memory · disillusionment · individuality · social judgment