James Lee's Wife by Robert Browning
On a French coast, James Lee's wife questions whether his love is changing and weighs her devotion against his faults through observations of the shore, reading and drawing. On deck as she leaves him, she recalls how completely her life depended on his responses and imagines the joy of receiving love like her own.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Love Poetry, Philosophical Poetry · 4,150 words
First lines
I. James Lee's Wife Speaks at the Window
Ah, Love, but a day / And the world has changed! / The sun 's away, / And the bird estranged; / The wind has dropped, / And the sky 's deranged: / Summer has stopped.
Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — The wife addresses her husband across nine sections, revealing her fears, judgments and continuing devotion without a reply from him.
- Love Poetry — The wife's verses trace her attachment to an imperfect husband and her longing for affection that would answer her own.
- Philosophical Poetry — Reflections on changing beauty, imperfect love and the useful human hand lead the wife to question what remains valuable when beauty or affection fails.
Tags
marriage · unrequited love · separation · coastal landscape · drawing · change
What this Textopian page supports
James Lee's Wife 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, Philosophical Poetry
- Length: 4,150 words
- Structure: 1 section, 67 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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