"Meeting at Night" by Robert Browning

"Meeting at Night" by Robert Browning

A Short DiscussionThe Author:

Robert Browning

Robert Browning (1812-1889)The Source:Meeting at Night is a dramatic lyric and also a love poem. It was probably written after the poet’s wedding with Elizabeth Barest. The poem was first published in 1845 in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, a collection of his poems. The very theme of the poem suggests that it has some autobiographical flavour. However, its lively style and abrupt ending make it a typical poem of Browning.The Substance:A lover felt a deep desire to meet his beloved at night. She lives in a farmhouse on the other side of the sea. The lover starts his journey in the cold night in a boat. The sea is ashen and the moon is crescent. The boat is on its way. The sleepy sea awakes through ripples and small curls. The lover is restless and passionate. His boat reaches the bay after a long journey. Coming down from the boat, he walks along the sea-scented beach. He passes three fields to arrive at the door of his beloved’s cottage. He makes a tap and a scratch on the window pane to announce his presence. A match is lighted inside. He is still tossed by joy and fear. Just then a voice is heard, softer than the beatings of two hearts in deep excitement of meeting with each other.The Features:Meeting at Night is a short and simple love poem. It begins with a journey for love and ends with a union. The imagery of the poem is extremely picturesque and pastoral. The phrases like ‘sharp scratch’, ‘lighted match’, ‘fiery ringlet’, ‘slushy sand’ etc justify the poet’s supremacy in selection of words. The poem ends abruptly like most other poems by Browning. The rhyme-pattern in both the stanzas is abccba. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter, though loosely applied.