Donald by Robert Browning
Among Oxford students praising sport, a speaker recounts Donald's encounter with a stag on a narrow mountain ledge. Donald lies down to let it pass, then stabs it as it carefully steps over him; both fall, and the stag cushions his landing, leaving him alive but severely disabled. Donald earns money by telling sportsmen his story and displaying the stag's remains, while the speaker condemns his ingratitude.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Satirical Poetry · 2,516 words
First lines
"Will you hear my story also, / -- Huge Sport, brave adventure in plenty? " / The boys were a band from Oxford, / The oldest of whom was twenty.
The bothy we held carouse in / Was bright with fire and candle; / Tale followed tale like a merry-go-round / Whereof Sport turned the handle.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed stanzas carry a framed story from a mountain encounter through Donald's fall, hospital treatment, and subsequent livelihood.
- Satirical Poetry — The sportsmen's claims that sport prevents meanness clash with Donald's attack on the careful stag and their applause for his exploit.
Tags
hunting · animal cruelty · mountain ledges · ingratitude · disability · sporting culture
What this Textopian page supports
Donald is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Browning, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Browning
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Satirical Poetry
- Length: 2,516 words
- Structure: 1 section, 60 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Donald by Robert Browning
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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