Popularity by Robert Browning
A speaker recognizes an overlooked poet and predicts that his worth will be revealed in the future. Comparing him to a fisher who brings up dye-bearing shells, the speaker contrasts his labor with others’ profitable use of the extracted color and ends by asking what John Keats had to eat.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Poetry, Metapoetry · 665 words
First lines
Stand still, true poet that you are! / I know you; let me try and draw you. / Some night you'll fail us: when afar / You rise, remember one man saw you, / Knew you, and named a star!
My star, God's glow-worm! Why extend / That loving hand of his which leads you, / Yet locks you safe from end to end / Of this dark world, unless he needs you, / Just saves your light to spend?
Genres
- Poetry — Thirteen rhymed five-line stanzas develop an address to a poet through comparisons with starlight, wine and shellfish dye.
- Metapoetry — The speaker considers a poet’s delayed recognition and contrasts original poetic labor with the rewards others gain from using its discoveries.
Tags
poetic recognition · literary imitation · artistic reward · Tyrian dye
What this Textopian page supports
Popularity 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: Poetry, Metapoetry
- Length: 665 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Popularity by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph