Any Wife to any Husband by Robert Browning
Facing death, a wife addresses her loving husband and fears that he will seek other women while claiming to remain devoted to her. She imagines their reunion after death and asks him to remain faithful. His present love briefly reassures her, but her closing words renew her doubt.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Love Poetry · 1,628 words
First lines
My love, this is the bitterest, that thou -- / Who art all truth, and who dost love me now / As thine eyes say, as thy voice breaks to say -- / Shouldst love so truly, and couldst love me still / A whole long life through, had but love its will, / Would death that leads me from thee brook delay.
I have but to be by thee, and thy hand / Will never let mine go, nor heart withstand / The beating of my heart to reach its place. / When shall I look for thee and feel thee gone? / When cry for the old comfort and find none? / Never, I know! Thy soul is in thy face.
Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — A wife speaks throughout to her husband, imagining his future explanations for loving other women without receiving a spoken reply.
- Love Poetry — The rhymed stanzas turn on the wife's love for her husband and her desire that his fidelity survive her death.
Tags
marriage · fidelity · death · jealousy · afterlife · dramatic monologue
What this Textopian page supports
Any Wife to any Husband 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, Love Poetry
- Length: 1,628 words
- Structure: 1 section, 21 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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