The Glove by Robert Browning
Peter Ronsard recounts how De Lorge retrieves a lady’s glove from beside a lion and throws it in her face. She explains that she meant to test his extravagant promises before returning his love, then leaves court and marries a young man. De Lorge’s later wife wins the king’s affection and mocks her husband’s willingness to fetch her gloves.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Dramatic Monologue · 2,218 words
First lines
(Peter Ronsard _loquitur_.)
"Heigho," yawned one day King Francis, / "Distance all value enhances! / When a man 's busy, why, leisure / Strikes him as wonderful pleasure: / 'Faith, and at leisure once is he? / Straightway he wants to be busy. / Here we 've got peace; and aghast I 'm / Caught thinking war the true pastime. / Is there a reason in metre? / Give us your speech, master Peter! " / I who, if mortal dare say so, / Ne'er am at loss with my Naso, / "Sire," I replied, "joys prove cloudlets: / Men are the merest Ixions" -- / Here the King whistled aloud, "Let 's / -- Heigho -- go look at our lions! " / Such are the sorrowful chances / If you talk fine to King Francis.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed verse follows the glove’s retrieval, the lady’s explanation, and the subsequent marriages.
- Dramatic Monologue — Ronsard speaks in the first person, recounting court conversations and defending the lady against the courtiers’ judgment.
Tags
courtship · tests of love · lions · court life · public humiliation · narrative poetry
What this Textopian page supports
The Glove is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Browning, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Browning
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Dramatic Monologue
- Length: 2,218 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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