Selected Poetry of Robert Browning
Notes
I've never read Browning really. I mean I've given it a spin before, but the stuffiness of it never felt enjoyable. But I read Andrea del Sarto to make myself finally learn the context of the 'man's reach should exceed his grasp' famous line that I reference all the time. And I found I enjoy these, if I can bring enough attention to them. They take a steady effort, though!
Noted on October 20, 2026
Quotes
From A Death in the Desert:
Is it for nothing we grow old and weak,
We whom God loves? When pain ends, gain ends too.Quoted on October 20, 2026
From Transcendentalism:
But why such long prolusion and display,
Such turning and adjustment of the harp,
And taking it upon your breast, at length,
Only to speak dry words across its strings?Quoted on October 20, 2026
From Andrea Del Sarto:
I, painting from myself and to myself,
Know what I do, am unmoved by men’s blame
Or their praise either.
…
Speak as they please, what does the mountain care?
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?Quoted on October 20, 2026