The scene of the poem opens on a dark stormy night. The weather is personified:
“The sullen wind was soon awake, it tore the elm-tops
down for spite and did its worst to vex the lake”
I think that by Browning describing the weather in such detail cleverly sets the mood at the beginning of the poem giving an idea of how the lover was feeling that night. He uses pathetic fallacy to show the human emotions felt by Porphyria’s lover, it is obvious that he has an unstable nature.
As with all the poems I have selected, the poets have chosen to put the words into first person.
When Porphyria enters the room the storm is forgotten and the room is warmed by her presence.
“She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up, and all the cottage warm;”
Porphyria then proceeds to flirt with the narrator after removing all items of clothing that remind us of the storm.
“Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl,
And laid her soiled gloves by, untied
Her hat and let the damp hair fall,”
We then start to notice how detached the narrator is from her and firstly think that he is a little shy.
“At last she sat down by my side
And called me. When no voice replied,
She put my arm about my waist,”
Porphyria craves attention and continues to do this by trying to be sexy and seductive.
“And made her smooth white shoulder bare,
And all her yellow hair displaced,
And stooping, made my cheek lie there,
And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair,”
He knows for all her efforts, she will not give herself to him.
“Too weak for all her heart’s endeavour,
To set its struggling passion free”
“A sudden thought of one so pale
For love of her, and all in vain:”
Her Victorian sensibilities prevented her from being anything more than flirtatious, we start to realise that the narrator is not shy but does not respond to her because he thinks its pointless. This is entirely different to “Delilah” who was unfaithful to her lover and humiliated him. Causing anger not frustration as in this poem.
The narrator begins to realise how much Porphyria loves him.
“Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshipped me;”
He wants to keep the moment forever; he wonders what to do next.
“While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair”
This is reminiscent of 97 Bonnie and Clyde and Your All I Need.
“Nobody in this world is ever gonna keep you from me
I love you”
97 Bonnie and Clyde.
“You’re all I need, make you only mine.”
You’re All I Need
The poem then takes a chilling turn, as her lover strangles Porphyria.
“A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around
And strangled her no pain felt she”
His strangulation of Porphyria is disturbingly sexual; Browning uses the metaphor “I am quite sure she felt no pain, as a shut bud that holds a bee.”
After Porphyria has been strangled, her lover states
“I warily opened her lids: again”
This is similar to what is said in You’re All I Need after he murders his lover.
“As I opened your eyes, I thought you were napping.”
Strangulation has turned her face bright red, a sort of deep blushing colour.
“Her cheek once more
Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss”
We are reminded of My Last Duchess’s similar lines.
“Twas not her husbands presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek.”
Porphyria’s lover spends the rest of the night with her head propped on his shoulder, coldly reflecting on what he has done.
The narrator feels no guilt.
“And yet God has not said a word”
I think that Browning is asking us the question
“Who will save the helpless?”
Like Porphyria’s lover, The Duke of Ferrara is portrayed as arrogant, possessive and dominant.
But the Duchess’ crime was that she did not live solely for the Dukes pleasure. The Duke also keeps silent about his feelings, as does Porphyria’s Lover but it is his pride that will not allow him to admit he knows that the Duchess is unfaithful.
Although this poem rhymes in part it has no regular pattern. At the beginning the narrator seemed shy and Porphyria seemed to be trying to help him. As the poem progresses I realised that the narrator’s silence was for a more sinister reason and Porphyria was in fact the helpless one. Browning cleverly uses silence as a kind of weapon against Porphyria in this poem disguising the lover’s true thoughts.
I think that this is a powerful poem that has been cleverly written to make us think about love, death and obsession, the theme Browning has used is not as relevant today as it was in Victorian times.
As Porphyria could on no account give herself to her lover then which is unlike today where she has a choice.
Browning has achieved his aim of creating a strong and thought provoking poem.
