A Forgiveness by Robert Browning
A statesman tells a monk how his wife's apparent betrayal led to three years of public marital harmony and private estrangement. When she confessed that jealousy of his statecraft had prompted her to seduce another man, he directed her to draw blood with a poisoned dagger and write her confession; she died before morning. His closing threat implies that the monk was the man who fled their garden.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Narrative Poetry · 4,957 words
First lines
I am indeed the personage you know. / As for my wife, -- what happened long ago -- / You have a right to question me, as I / Am bound to answer.
("Son, a fit reply! " / The monk half spoke, half ground through his clenched teeth, / At the confession-grate I knelt beneath.)
Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — A statesman addresses a monk at a confession-grate, recounting his treatment of his wife before directing a personal threat toward his listener.
- Narrative Poetry — Rhyming verse follows the garden encounter, three years of estrangement, the wife's fatal confession, and the husband's confrontation with the monk.
Tags
marital betrayal · jealousy · revenge · murder · confession · poisoned dagger · statecraft
What this Textopian page supports
A Forgiveness is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Browning, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Browning
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Dramatic Monologue, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 4,957 words
- Structure: 1 section, 38 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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