All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
--Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!
The collection of poems called _James Lee's Wife_, published in the
_Dramatis Personae_ (1864), seems to me illustrative of Browning's
worst faults; it is obscure, harsh, and dull. But it contains one
fine lyric descriptive of an autumn morning, a morning, by the way,
much commoner in America during autumn than anywhere in Europe. The
second stanza is nobly ethical in its doctrine of love--that we
should not love only those persons whom we can respect, for true
love seeks no profit. It must be totally free from the prospect of
gain. A beautiful face inspired another lyric in this volume, and
Browning drew upon his memories of Correggio to give the perfect
tone to the poem.
FROM JAMES LEE'S WIFE
1864
I
Oh, good gigantic smile o' the brown old earth,
This autumn morning! How he sets his bones
To bask i' the sun, and thrusts out knees and feet
For the ripple to run over in its mirth;
Listening the while, where on the heap of stones
The white breast of the sea-lark twitters sweet.
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