Pan and Luna by Robert Browning
On a dark night in Arcadia, the personified moon seeks cover in what seems a cloud, only to be trapped in white fleece arranged by Pan and clasped against him. The speaker describes her recoil and questions Virgil’s claim that she followed Pan into the wildwood without resistance.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Mythological Poetry · 1,268 words
First lines
Si credere dignum est. -- _Georgic_, III. 390.
Oh, worthy of belief I hold it was, / Virgil, your legend in those strange three lines! / No question, that adventure came to pass / One black night in Arcadia: yes, the pines, / Mountains and valleys mingling made one mass / Of black with void black heaven: the earth's confines, / The sky's embrace, -- below, above, around, / All hardened into black without a bound.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed eight-line stanzas recount the moon’s emergence, search for concealment, capture by Pan, and recoil.
- Mythological Poetry — The speaker retells and questions a legend attributed to Virgil in which Pan traps the personified moon.
Tags
classical mythology · moon · disguise · entrapment · modesty · sexual coercion · consent
What this Textopian page supports
Pan and Luna 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: Narrative Poetry, Mythological Poetry
- Length: 1,268 words
- Structure: 1 section, 14 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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