Reverie by Robert Browning
The speaker traces how bodily experience and observation of nature led to belief in an infinite power, while suffering prevented the heart from loving it. Comparing this personal account with humanity’s history, the speaker affirms faith that love will become as evident as power, whether on earth or beyond it.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Philosophical Poetry, Religious Poetry · 2,036 words
First lines
I know there shall dawn a day / -- Is it here on homely earth? / Is it yonder, worlds away, / Where the strange and new have birth, / That Power comes full in play?
Is it here, with grass about, / Under befriending trees, / When shy buds venture out, / And the air by mild degrees / Puts winter's death past doubt?
Genres
- Philosophical Poetry — The speaker reasons in rhymed stanzas about causation, the limits of knowledge, and whether infinite power can be reconciled with goodness.
- Religious Poetry — The speaker invokes God’s creation, distinguishes praise of omnipotence from love, and affirms faith in a future revelation of divine love.
Tags
divine power · divine love · suffering · faith · soul · knowledge
What this Textopian page supports
Reverie 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: Philosophical Poetry, Religious Poetry
- Length: 2,036 words
- Structure: 1 section, 44 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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