No consistent allegory can be made
out of it, for which fact we should rejoice. It is a poem, not a
sermon; it is intended to stimulate the imagination, rather than
awaken the conscience. And as we accompany the knight on his lonely
and fearful journey, we feel thrills caused only by works of genius.
The poem is an example of the power of creative imagination. Out of
one line from an old ballad quoted by Shakespeare, Browning has
built up a marvellous succession of vivid pictures. The twilight
deepens as Childe Roland advances; one can feel the darkness coming
on.
.... hands unseen
Were hanging the night around us fast.
Although the poem means nothing specifically except a triumphant
close to a heart-shaking experience, the close is so solemnly
splendid that it is difficult to repress a shout of physical
exultation. One lonely man, in the presence of all the Powers of the
Air, sends out an honest blast of defiance--the individual will
against the malignant forces of the whole universe.
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