The Laboratory by Robert Browning
A jealous speaker watches poison being prepared for a romantic rival, demanding that it cause pain and leave a dying face the man will remember. The speaker offers jewels in payment and asks to have the dust brushed off before going to dance at the King's.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Poetry · 666 words
First lines
Ancien Régime
Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly, / May gaze through these faint smokes curling whitely, / As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy -- / Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?
What this Textopian page supports
The Laboratory 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: Dramatic Monologue, Poetry
- Length: 666 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Laboratory by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — A single speaker addresses a poison maker whose replies remain unheard, revealing jealousy through questions, commands, and imagined deaths.
- Poetry — Twelve rhymed quatrains carry the speaker's observations of poison preparation and demands for a rival's painful death.
Tags
jealousy · poison · revenge · romantic rivalry · dramatic monologue