About the poet Robert Browning

Robert Browning (1812-1889) was a master of the poetic genre called the dramatic monologue, and one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. He was married to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a prominent poet in her own right. His Dramatis Personae, one of his most famous works, was published in 1863. Browning's works are noted for his superb storytelling power, his control of diction and his extraordinary understanding of the human psyche. His shorter poetic works also are of superior merit. Porphyria's Lover’, ‘My Last Duchess", "Rabbi Ben Ezra', 'How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix' and 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' are eternal testaments to his poetic power.

About the Poem -

The Lost Leader' is a veiled attack on William Wordsworth, who had abandoned liberal and revolutionary ideals to embrace conservative politics. The poem never refers to him directly but is directed at a once esteemed person who has now betrayed his friend.

Summary

The poem 'The Lost Leader' is written by Robert Browning who was a master of the poetic genre called the 'dramatic monologue.' The poem, 'The Lost Leader' is a veiled attack on William Wordsworth, who had abandoned liberal and revolutionary ideals to embrace conservative politics. William Wordsworth had been a powerful force in awakening the social consciousness of his generation, but later in his career, he fell more and more into neutral and passive inactivity. In 1842 he accepted a pension from the government and in 1843 the poet laureateship of England. The poem never refers to him directly but is directed at a once esteemed person who has now betrayed his friend.

The first stanza of the poem shows the poet's shock and sense of loss at his leader's apostasy. The first line of the poem, "Just for a handful of silver he left us" express strong biblical connotations of Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Here, perhaps the poet exaggerates the extent of what Wordsworth actually did. William Wordsworth accepted a pension in 1842 from the government and maybe this action was referred to as, "handful of silver" and in 1843 he accepted the poet laureateship of England, it refers to as, "riband."

In the next line, the poet says, "found the one gift of which fortune bereft us" it expresses a sense that fortune blesses them with a few gifts and the gift is related to Wordsworth himself because he was the champion of liberty and he was the leader of them whom the people loves more but suddenly the poet expresses his disappointment about a leader which conveys a sense of injustice and how Wordsworth is no longer a valiant leader, in the line he says, "Lost all the others she lets us devote." The word 'Lost' reflects various ideas. The word reflects a sense of the death of a leader; although it is a metaphorical death or he may have been 'Lost' everything means he has ultimately betrayed all those who followed him & respected him as a leader of liberty.

In the next line, the poet expresses how the people honoured him and respected him for that they give all the gold, silver and copper to him. He expresses in the line "How all our copper had gone for his service?" it means, not silver or gold, but what little money they could give him, that all is gone for his service and he betrayed him. He had abandoned liberal and revolutionary ideas to embrace conservative politics. Then the poet expresses his respect to his leader in the line "Rags were they purple, his heart had been proud!" Here the poet says that the people who loved him, admired him as a leader they would have dressed him in purple which is traditionally related to kings or leaders.

The peoples were poor so they would not be able to afford purple robes, but they would only give purple rags to him to honour him, and the leader has been feeling proud to wear even rags given to him by the poor whose leader he was.

The poor people so much loved him, they followed him honoured him and admired him as a leader of liberty. They lived under the observation of their leader because they believe that their leader is a hero and champion of liberty who is giving a fight against the conservatives. He express his respect in the line, Learned his great language, caught his clear accents, Made him our pattern to live and to die! it shows how the people at once admired him as a king of freedom and democracy. And they accept him as their ideal for their

living The poet compared William Wordsworth to the other great poets as like Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Shelley who had not abandoned the liberal & revolutionary cause for any reason but only Wordsworth who betrayed them and he was the alone breaks from the van and be the freeman. He was alone who goes back and become a slave of conservative Politics.

In the next stanza despite having the disappointment of being betrayed by his friend he decides not to move from the path of liberty and freedom And he declared that they did not move from their way and they would have to go ahead and do their fight against the conservative ideas. He says that they could not think about him, if he is not present in their march, it may be possible that his songs may be inspired them but not form his thinking.

In the next line the poet firmly tells us that, when his leader is sitting in a quiet state and boasting himself, their followers go ahead & do their work without their leader. The poet expresses in the next lines, the serious crime done by his leader, he says, "Blot out his name, then, record one lost soul more, one task more declined, one more footpath untrod, one more devil's - triumph & sorrow for angels, one wrong more to man, one more insult to God !" From the above lines, the poet says that his leader's betrayal is a great crime which he has committed the posted. His desertion is taken as a great wrong to men and a great insult to God. His crime is considered as an injustice to man, angel and God. To the poet, it is the devil's triumph. The poet's followers never allow him to come back with them because in their suggests to his mind there would be doubt, hesitation and pain. But the poet decides to go ahead and fight well, although he knows that his way is difficult. But they stand firm to teach him to fight gallantly. At the poem's end, the poet expects that they are forgiven for his serious crime by God. He is the only one who pardoned him.

Short Questions

What are the meanings of the word 'lost' that the poem hints at?

Ans: The poem 'The Lost Leader' is written by Robert Browning The poem is a veiled attack on William Wordsworth, who had abandoned liberal and revolutionary ideals to embrace conservative politics. The poet expresses his disappointment about a leader which conveys a sense of injustice. The poet uses the word 'Lost' which reflects various many meanings. The word 'Lost' reflects a sense of the death of a leader, although it is a metaphorical death. Another meaning is that he has been 'Lost' everything means he has ultimately betrayed all those who followed him & respected him as a leader of liberty. He lost the respect and honour of the people.

What is the meaning of lines 9 to 12?

Ans: The poem 'The Lost Leader' is about the people's disappointment with a leader who left the group for conservative politics. The people respected him & honoured him as their leader. They loved him, followed him, honoured him and admired him as a leader of liberty. They lived under his command because they believe that their leader is a hero and champion of liberty. They learned his great language, and caught his accents means they blindly believe in him and accept him as their ideal leader for their living.

What does the poet think 'We' will do without the leader?

Ans: The poet Robert Browning is a friend of William Wordsworth and as well as one of the people from the group who admired, honoured and respected Wordsworth as a leader. But, Wordsworth no longer being a valiant leader, so the people disappointed because of their leader. Here the poet wants to suggest to us that they did not move from their path of liberty, they would go ahead. He says that they did not think about him, if their leader is not present in their march, they would go ahead and do their work without their leader.

Why does the poet wish that the leader should never come back to them?

Ans: William Wordsworth who is a leader of the group deceived all the people by accepting conservative politics. So the people were disappointed with their leader. Because the people loved him, admired him, honoured him and made him their ideal for their living. But he betrayed them, and his betrayal is a great crime according to the people. His desertion is taken as a great wrong to men, and a great insult to God, injustice to men, angels and God. It is the devil's triumph and sorrow for angels. So the poet suggests to his followers that never allow him to come back with them because in their minds there would be doubt, hesitation and pain.

What is the tone of the poem? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

Ans: The poem is about the betrayal of the leader towards his group, So the tone of the poem is sad. There is pain, injustice, hesitation and disappointment for the leader. The poet says that 'Lost all others she lets us devote', it suggests that the leader lost everything, the respect, love, honour given by the people because of his betrayal. Here, we saw the disappointment of the people towards their leader because they honoured him. He alone breaks from the van and the freemen', this line suggests the betrayal of the leader because all the peoples believed him and made him their ideal but he alone move from their path of freedom. Then the poet expresses his hesitation and says, 'Blot out his name, then, record. One lost soul more', 'let him never come back to us!' According to the poet his betrayal is regarded as the devil's triumph and sorrow for angels, one wrong more to man, one more insult to God!

Essay-Type Question

Que. The poem describes the poet's disappointment with leaders. Why? What are the consequences of the leader's actions?

Ans: The poem The Lost Leader', is written by Robert Browning, who was a master of the poetic genre called the dramatic monologue.

The poem, The Lost Leader' is a veiled attack on William Wordsworth, who had abandoned liberal and revolutionary ideals to accept conservative politics. In this poem, the poet expresses his disappointment with his leader, who left him 'for a handful of silver and 'just for a riband William Wordsworth accepted a pension in 1842 from the government and maybe this act was referred to as 'handful of silver', and in 1843 he accepted poet laureateship of England, it refers as 'riband'.

The poet expresses his disappointment about his leader and the injustice done by his leader. The poet says, 'Lost all the other's she let us devote. The word 'Lost', suggests two meanings. First, the death of the leader; although it is a metaphorical death or he may have been 'lost' everything, means he has ultimately deceived all those who followed him, respected him as a leader of liberty. The poet says that his followers loved him, admired him, honoured him, so they would have dressed him in purple rags in which he feel proud. The peoples believe that their leader is a champion of liberty and accept him as their ideal for their living & die

Then the poet compares William Wordsworth to the other great poets, like Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Shelly who does not break from the van. None of them has accepted slavery but only their leader betrayed them and accepted the slavery.

In the second section, the poet expresses his firm decision to go on and not move from the path of liberty & freedom which is untrodden. He firmly tells to his followers to go on, whether their leader is not present. As he thinks not a leader but his songs may be inspired them. Then the poet asks his followers to blot out his name because in their eyes his leader had done a serious crime that he had betrayed his followers. His desertion is taken as like the great wrong to men, a great insult to God. It is considered an injustice to man. At the end of the poem, the poet expects that their leader would be forgiven for his serious crime by God.

Reference to Context

Just for a handful of silver, he left us,
Just for a riband to stick in his coat -
Found the one gift of which Fortune bereft us,
Lost all the others she lets us devote;

Reference :

The above lines are taken from the poem The Lost Leader, written by Robert Browning. The poem is about the betrayal of the leader and the disappointment of the group of people.

Context:

The poem 'The lost leader' is written about the betrayal of the leader who abandoned liberal and revolutionary ideas to embrace conservative politics. Although the poet is not mentioned directly it is a veiled attack on William Wordsworth who has betrayed his friend. The line "Just for a handful of silver he left us", expresses a strong biblical connotation of Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. William Wordsworth accepted a pension in 1842 from the government and maybe this action was referred to as, a 'handful of silver in 1843 he accepted the poet laureateship of England, it refers as 'riband'. The poet expresses the honour for his leader when he says that fortune blesses them with the few gifts which are related to Wordsworth himself. And express his disappointment about a leader, and lost everything.

Conclusion :

The above lines express the disappointment of the people for the leader and the betrayal of the leader to all those who followed him, respected him, and honoured him as a leader of liberty.

We that had loved him so, followed him,
honoured him,
Lived in his mild and magnificent eye,
Learned his great language,
caught his clear accents,
Made him our pattern to live and to die!

Reference :

The above lines are taken from the poem 'The Lost Leader', written by Robert Browning. The above lines describe how much the people loved their leader, and honoured and admired him as their leader.

Context :

The poem The Last Leader' describes the betrayal of the leader and the disappointment of the people for their leader. The leader betrayed his followers for accepting conservative politics. The people believed him, and admired him and they think that Fortune gives them a gift in the form of their leader. To express their respect for their leader they would have dressed him in purples which feel proud to him. The people loved him, honoured him, and admired him as their leader. They learned his language, and they caught his accents means they followed him and they followed his thinking. They admired him as a king of freedom and democracy and accept him as their ideal for their living. Conclusion :

To conclude, the above lines express the deep honour of the people for their leader. The peoples give respect, and honour to him and accept him as their ideal for their living.