Ivàn Ivànovitch by Robert Browning
Loukeria reaches her home village and reports that wolves took her three children while she fled a burning village by sledge. Ivàn, a carpenter, beheads her; despite the lord's objections, a priest declares her survival a betrayal of motherhood, and the villagers acquit Ivàn. The elders find him assembling a model Kremlin before watching children, and he receives news of his freedom as self-evident.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Dramatic Poetry, Tragedy · 6,798 words
First lines
"They tell me, your carpenters," quoth I to my friend the Russ, / "Make a simple hatchet serve as a tool-box serves with us. / Arm but each man with his axe, 'tis a hammer and saw and plane / And chisel, and -- what know I else? We should imitate in vain / The mastery wherewithal, by a flourish of just the adze, / He cleaves, clamps, dovetails in, -- no need of our nails and brads, -- / The manageable pine: 'tis said he could shave himself / With the axe, -- so all adroit, now a giant and now an elf, / Does he work and play at once!"
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed verse recounts a mother's return, her killing by a carpenter, the village's judgment and his response to acquittal.
- Dramatic Poetry — Loukeria's account of the pursuit and the opposing speeches of the lord and priest unfold through extended dialogue.
- Tragedy — The reported deaths of three children lead to their mother's violent killing by the friend she thanks for comforting her.
Tags
motherhood · wolves · survival · extrajudicial killing · religious judgment · village justice
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Ivàn Ivànovitch 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, Dramatic Poetry, Tragedy
- Length: 6,798 words
- Structure: 1 section, 37 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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