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Page 82
241. =scudi=. The _scudo_ is an Italian silver coin worth about
one dollar.
262. =Leonard=. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), another of Italy's
great men: artist, poet, musician, and scientist.
Construct the scene and action of the poem. How does the coloring
harmonize with the artist's mood? Why is he weary? How does he think
of his art: what merit has it? What does it lack? How does he explain
this lack? What clew to it does his life afford? Is his art soulless
because he has done wrong? Or, do the lack of soul in his painting,
and the wrongdoing, and the infatuation with Lucrezia's beauty, all
arise from the same thing,--the man's own nature? Does he appeal to
your sympathy, or provoke your condemnation? Does he blame himself, or
another, or circumstances?
What idea have you of Lucrezia? What does she think of Andrea? Of his
art? What things does he desire of her?
What problems of life are here presented? Which is principal: the
relation of man and woman, the need of _soul_ for great work,
or the interrelation between character and achievement? Or, is there
something else for which the poem stands?
Can you cite any lines that embody the main idea of the poem? Does
anything in it remind you of _The Grammarian_, or of _Rabbi Ben
Ezra?_
CALIBAN UPON SETEBOS. (PAGE 161.)
Setebos was the god of Caliban's mother, the witch Sycorax, on
Prospero's island.
Read Shakespeare's _The Tempest_. Observe especially all that is
said by or about Caliban. Observe that Browning makes Caliban usually
speak of himself in the third person, and prefixes an apostrophe to
the initial verb, as in the first line.
Tylor's _Primitive Culture_ and _Early History of Mankind_
give interesting accounts of the religions of savages.
How is Caliban's savage nature indicated in the opening scene? What
things does he think Setebos has made? From what motives? What limit
to the power of Setebos? Why does Caliban imagine these limits? How
does Setebos govern? Out of what materials does Caliban build his
conceptions of his deity? Why does he fear him? How does he propitiate
him? Why is he terrified at the end? Compare this passage with the
latter part of the Book of Job. What, in general, is the meaning
of the poem? Can you cite anything in the history of religions to
parallel Caliban's theology?
"CHILDE ROLAND TO THE DARK TOWER CAME." (PAGE 174.)
When Browning was asked by Rev. Dr. J.W. Chadwick whether the central
idea of this poem was constancy to an ideal,--"He that endureth to the
end shall be saved,"--he answered, "Yes, just about that."
4-5. =to afford suppression of=. To suppress.
11. ='gin write=. Write.
48. =its estray=. That is, Childe Roland himself.
66. =my prisoners=. Those who had met their death on the plain? Or,
its imprisoned vegetation?
68. =bents=. A kind of grass.
70. =as=. As if.
91. =Not it!= Memory did not give hope and solace.
106. =howlet=. A small owl.
114. =bespate=. Spattered.
133. =cirque=. A circle or enclosure.
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