Epilogue to Pacchiarotto by Robert Browning
A poet compares poetry to wine, answering readers who demand both strength and sweetness while leaving much of Shakespeare and Milton unread. He defends making verse from human thoughts, loves, and hates, and refuses to harvest his gentler fancies merely to sweeten it. He ends by offering nettle broth to readers whose taste he considers impaired.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Metapoetry, Satirical Poetry · 2,524 words
First lines
μεστοι. / οἱ δ' ἀμφορῆς οἴνου μέλανος ἀνθοσμίου
"The poets pour us wine -- " / Said the dearest poet I ever knew, / Dearest and greatest and best to me. / You clamor athirst for poetry -- / We pour. "But when shall a vintage be" -- / You cry -- "strong grape, squeezed gold from screw. / Yet sweet juice, flavored flowery-fine? / That were indeed the wine!"
Genres
- Metapoetry — The speaker develops winemaking into an extended comparison for composing poetry and argues about poetic subjects, taste, and readership.
- Satirical Poetry — The rhymed stanzas mock readers who praise older poets while consuming only isolated scenes and verses, ending with nettle broth for their faulty palates.
Tags
poetic composition · literary criticism · readership · literary taste · wine metaphor · satire
What this Textopian page supports
Epilogue to Pacchiarotto 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: Metapoetry, Satirical Poetry
- Length: 2,524 words
- Structure: 1 section, 29 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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