Martin Relph by Robert Browning
A narrator relays his grandfather's memory of Martin Relph's annual public confession. Relph failed to speak when Vincent Parkes approached with a pardon for Rosamund Page; soldiers executed her, and Parkes was then found dead. Relph blames cowardice, raises jealousy as a possible motive, and denies having loved Rosamund.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Dramatic Monologue · 3,351 words
First lines
_My grandfather says he remembers he saw, when a youngster long ago,_ / _On a bright May day, a strange old man, with a beard as white as / snow,_ / _Stand on the hill outside our town like a monument of woe,_ / _And, striking his bare bald head the while, sob out the / reason -- so! _
If I last as long as Methuselah I shall never forgive myself: / But -- God forgive me, that I pray, unhappy Martin Relph, / As coward, coward I call him -- him, yes, him! Away from me! / Get you behind the man I am now, you man that I used to be!
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed stanzas recount an execution, a lover's delayed arrival with a pardon, and a witness's recurring confession.
- Dramatic Monologue — Within a narrator's brief frame, Relph addresses a listening crowd, strikes his brow, and alternates between self-accusation and excuses.
Tags
execution · pardon · cowardice · remorse · jealousy · military authority
What this Textopian page supports
Martin Relph 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 Monologue
- Length: 3,351 words
- Structure: 1 section, 38 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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