In a Year by Robert Browning
A speaker recalls a man's former devotion and wonders whether her words, gestures, or frank return of his love explain its decay. She imagines giving her life to retain his affection, then compares a man's heart to cold clay and asks whether God comes next when it crumbles.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Love Poetry · 618 words
First lines
Never any more, / While I live, / Need I hope to see his face / As before. / Once his love grown chill, / Mine may strive: / Bitterly we re-embrace, / Single still.
Was it something said, / Something done, / Vexed him? Was it touch of hand, / Turn of head? / Strange! that very way / Love begun: / I as little understand / Love's decay.
What this Textopian page supports
In a Year 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: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Love Poetry
- Length: 618 words
- Structure: 1 section, 10 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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- Work identity for In a Year by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Ten rhymed stanzas voice a lover's bewilderment as remembered tenderness gives way to cooled affection.
- Dramatic Monologue — One speaker recalls exchanges with her lover, imagines his response to her sacrifice, and finally addresses him directly.
- Love Poetry — The speaker questions why mutual devotion has faded and whether giving more of herself could preserve it.
Tags
faded love · heartbreak · remembered courtship · reciprocity · imagined self-sacrifice