The Lost Mistress by Robert Browning
After acknowledging that the relationship is over, a speaker notices sparrows at the beloved's cottage and vine buds about to open. The speaker asks whether they will meet tomorrow as friends and may hold hands, then promises friendly words and gestures with small allowances for lingering affection.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Love Poetry · 211 words
First lines
All 's over, then: does truth sound bitter / As one at first believes? / Hark, 'tis the sparrows' good-night twitter / About your cottage eaves!
And the leaf-buds on the vine are woolly, / I noticed that, to-day; / One day more bursts them open fully / -- You know the red turns gray.
To-morrow we meet the same then, dearest? / May I take your hand in mine? / Mere friends are we, -- well, friends the merest / Keep much that I resign:
For each glance of the eye so bright and black / Though I keep with heart's endeavor, -- / Your voice, when you wish the snowdrops back, / Though it stay in my soul forever! --
What this Textopian page supports
The Lost Mistress 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, Dramatic Monologue, Love Poetry
- Length: 211 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Lost Mistress by Robert Browning
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Five rhymed stanzas express the speaker's immediate feelings about becoming merely friends with the beloved.
- Dramatic Monologue — A single speaker addresses a silent beloved, asking about tomorrow's meeting and negotiating the limits of friendship.
- Love Poetry — The speaker cherishes the beloved's eyes and voice and seeks small intimacies after the romantic relationship ends.
Tags
lost love · friendship · parting · lingering affection