Pauline: a Fragment of a Confession
An unnamed poet confides in Pauline about his imaginative youth, poetic ambitions and abandonment of faith in human freedom and love. He examines his restless desire for knowledge and pleasure, his self-hatred and his dependence on her affection, then turns to prayer. Though he fears his resolutions may fail and imagines a shared retreat, he closes by affirming belief in God, truth and love and renewed hope for poetry.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Confessional Poetry · 14,078 words
First lines
"The first piece in the series (_Pauline_), I acknowledge and retain with extreme repugnance, indeed purely of necessity; for not long ago I inspected one, and am certified of the existence of other transcripts, intended sooner or later to be published abroad: by forestalling these, I can at least correct some misprints (no syllable is changed) and introduce a boyish work by an exculpatory word. The thing was my earliest attempt at "poetry always dramatic in principle, and so many utterances of so many imaginary persons, not mine," which I have since written according to a scheme less extravagant and scale less impracticable than were ventured upon in this crude preliminary sketch, -- a sketch that, on reviewal, appears not altogether wide of some hint of the characteristic features of that particular _dramatis persona_ it would fain have reproduced: good draughtsmanship, however, and right handling were far beyond the artist at that time.
What this Textopian page supports
Pauline: a Fragment of a Confession 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, Confessional Poetry
- Length: 14,078 words
- Structure: 1 section, 58 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Pauline: a Fragment of a Confession by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — An imagined poet addresses Pauline in an extended verse utterance, recounting his past and revealing his changing motives.
- Confessional Poetry — The speaker admits selfishness, envy, lost convictions and self-hatred, seeking relief through confession to Pauline and prayer.
Tags
poetic ambition · self-examination · imagination · religious doubt · self-hatred · love