Mr. Sludge, "the Medium" by Robert Browning
Caught cheating and throttled by his patron, Sludge bargains for money, passage to England, and silence about his fraud. He admits his tricks, blames the believers who encouraged them, and argues that deception can coexist with genuine spiritual insight. After receiving more money, he privately rehearses a retaliatory story accusing his patron of murdering his mother and falsely claiming to have beaten him, then resolves to begin again elsewhere.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Satirical Poetry · 20,816 words
First lines
Now, don't, sir! Don't expose me! Just this once! / This was the first and only time, I 'll swear, -- / Look at me, -- see, I kneel, -- the only time, / I swear, I ever cheated, -- yes, by the soul / Of Her who hears -- (your sainted mother, sir! ) / All, except this last accident, was truth -- / This little kind of slip! -- and even this, / It was your own wine, sir, the good champagne, / (I took it for Catawba, you 're so kind,) / Which put the folly in my head!
"Get up? " / You still inflict on me that terrible face? / You show no mercy? -- Not for Her dear sake, / The sainted spirit's, whose soft breath even now / Blows on my cheek -- (don't you feel something, sir? ) / You 'll tell?
What this Textopian page supports
Mr. Sludge, "the Medium" 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: Dramatic Monologue, Satirical Poetry
- Length: 20,816 words
- Structure: 1 section, 61 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Mr. Sludge, "the Medium" by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — Sludge addresses his patron throughout, quoting or responding to the man's interventions while moving from pleading to confession, accusation, and self-defence.
- Satirical Poetry — Sludge's verse account mocks believers who explain away failed manifestations, silence skeptics, and reward fraud that flatters their judgment.
Tags
spiritualism · fraudulent mediumship · credulity · patronage · self-justification · omens