A Pretty Woman by Robert Browning
A speaker admires a woman's beauty but says she offers liking rather than love. He asks whether demanding more would spoil her existing perfection, compares attempts to improve her to replacing a rose with jewels and metal, and ends by advising that a rose be enjoyed and discarded.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Love Poetry, Philosophical Poetry · 661 words
First lines
That fawn-skin-dappled hair of hers, / And the blue eye / Dear and dewy, / And that infantine fresh air of hers!
To think men cannot take you, Sweet, / And enfold you, / Ay, and hold you, / And so keep you what they make you, Sweet!
Genres
- Love Poetry — The speaker addresses a beautiful woman and distinguishes her liking from the love he says she cannot give.
- Philosophical Poetry — Rhymed questions test whether adding desired qualities improves something or destroys its existing perfection.
Tags
beauty · unrequited love · possessiveness · liking · rose metaphor
What this Textopian page supports
A Pretty Woman 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: Love Poetry, Philosophical Poetry
- Length: 661 words
- Structure: 1 section, 18 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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