Nevertheless,
Roland advances, his eyes on the ground. Suddenly the wide wing of
some dreadful bird of the night brushed his cap, and he looked up--to
his overwhelming amazement, _he sees the Tower_! He sees it as the
sailor sees the rocks on a dark night, only when the ship is lost.
He sees it in a sudden glare of hell; the air is full of mocking
laughter, the scorn of fiends mingling with the sound of the names
of their victims, his peers and comrades, all lost! The ugly
misshapen mountains look like sinister giants, lying chin upon hand,
lazily awaiting his destruction. But this atom of humanity, in the
presence of all the material forces of this world and the
supernatural powers of darkness, places the horn to his lips, and
sends out on the evening air a shrill blast of utter defiance. He
that endureth to the end shall be saved. Not his possessions, not
his happiness, not his bodily frame--they all succumb: but _he_
shall be saved.
Thus we may take this wholly romantic poem as one more noble
illustration of Browning's favorite doctrine--Success in Failure.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274