Rosny by Robert Browning
A speaker addresses Clara and imagines a man returning from war, first with a scar, then unharmed and crediting love for his safety. Imagined envious voices prize death and fame instead. The speaker then pictures him dead among those he killed, bearing the speaker’s portrait, with love blamed for his undoing.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Lyric Poetry, War Poetry · 327 words
First lines
Woe, he went galloping into the war, / Clara, Clara! / Let us two dream: shall he 'scape with a scar? / Scarcely disfigurement; rather a grace / Making for manhood which nowise we mar: / See, while I kiss it, the flush on his face -- / Rosny, Rosny!
Light does he laugh: "With your love in my soul" -- / (Clara, Clara! ) / "How could I other than -- sound, safe, and whole -- / Cleave who opposed me asunder, yet stand / Scatheless beside you, as, touching love's goal, / Who won the race kneels, craves reward at your hand -- / Rosny, Rosny?"
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Four rhymed stanzas with repeated addresses to Clara express a speaker's shifting dreams of a lover's return and death.
- War Poetry — The imagined outcomes of a man's departure for war range from a survivable scar to death among those he has slain.
Tags
wartime love · imagined homecoming · battlefield death · jealousy · scars
What this Textopian page supports
Rosny 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, War Poetry
- Length: 327 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Rosny 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