Prologue to Asolando by Robert Browning
Answering a complaint that age strips nature of its youthful glow, the speaker contrasts a lens that colors objects with one that reveals them clearly. The speaker recalls beauty mingled with terror at Asolo, then accepts a voice's counsel to regard nature as God's friendly works and God as transcending them.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Religious Poetry · 481 words
First lines
"The Poet's age is sad: for why? / In youth, the natural world could show / No common object but his eye / At once involved with alien glow -- / His own soul's iris-bow.
"And now a flower is just a flower: / Man, bird, beast are but beast, bird, man -- / Simply themselves, uncinct by dower / Of dyes which, when life's day began, / Round each in glory ran."
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Rhymed five-line stanzas carry the speaker's recollection of Asolo and account of changed perception.
- Philosophical Poetry — The comparison of colored and clear lenses develops an argument about imagination, appearances, and truth.
- Religious Poetry — The burning-bush comparison leads to a voice distinguishing God's works in nature from God, who transcends them.
Tags
aging · perception · nature · religious awe · divine transcendence
What this Textopian page supports
Prologue to Asolando 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: Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Religious Poetry
- Length: 481 words
- Structure: 1 section, 10 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Prologue to Asolando 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