The Patriot

The Patriot

ASSIGNMENTS

Robert Browning

I. (i) Refer to Stanza 1 under the The Poem in Detail, Page 118.

(ii) The line "A year ago on this very day" is significant because it helps the readers to grasp the speaker's glory filled past. This heroic state is then contrasted with his present disgraced state in the latter part of the poem.

(iii) Alliteration is the figure of speech used here, because there is close repetition of consonant sound I m I , at the beginning of words, "myrtle", "mixed" and "mad". Myrtle is a sweet smelling white or pink flower that was thrown on the speaker's way for a grand reception. "Myrtle" here thus symbolises the love that the public once had for the speaker.

(iv) ‘They' here refers to the fickle public, who once worshipped the speaker. This line tells us that public was so influenced by the heroism of speaker that even if he had asked for the sun they would have offered him the same.

(v) The speaker had received a grand welcome a year ago on his arrival in the town. People had thrown roses and myrtle in his path. The house-roofs were so full of people that the roofs seemed to sway. The church spires were decorated with beautiful flags. Bells rang to announce his coming, the old walls of the buildings seemed to be shaken with the crowed and their loud cries. They were so impressed by his heroic act that even if he had asked for the sun, they would have offered him the same.

II (i) The speaker, the patriot, is 'I' in the above extract. Leaping at the sun is a mythological reference to Icarus, Son of Daedalus, who dared to fly too near the sun. His waxed wings melted and Icarus plunged to his death in the sea. Similarly what led the speaker towards his downfall was his "vaulting ambition".

(ii) The speaker "leaped at the sun" for his loving friends. He wanted to do every possible thing in public's best interest. The speaker's regret is reflected though the use of word Alack.

(iii) The 'harvest' here refers to the harsh treatment that the speaker received in his unheroic present state. What he implanted was love and patriotism for his loving friends but the "harvest" made him feel dejected. Everything had changed for him in a year. He was now being taken to the scaffold to be executed.

(iv) In the beginning of the poem, it appears as if the public adulated the speaker to such an extent that even if he had asked for the sun, they would have offered it to him. But the next year showcases an entirely different scene where they hurl stones at him. It can be said that they were not really his "loving friends" but were guided by fickleness.

(v) Yes, the speaker feels sad and nostalgic about his glory-filled past. He remembers how he was welcomed by the public with roses and myrtles a year ago. He was acknowledged as God-like by the public. But now he feels sad as there is "nobody to welcome him on the house-tops now". The comparison that he draws between his heroic past and unheroic present reflects his sadness.

III. (i) A year ago on his arrival, the old walls of the building seemed to shake with the crowd and its loud cries. But now he is considered a traitor. There is nobody on the house-tops except for a few suffering from palsy.

(ii) The poem does not reveal the reason for the speaker's unheroic present. The public no longer loves or respects him. The reasons might be that the patriotic speaker might have in reality turned a traitor; or in the name of patriotism he must have done something unacceptable; or the speaker was really innocent but had become a victim of political machinations.

(iii) Refer to Contrasting Imagery, under Style, Page 123.

(iv) "The best of the sight" refers to the sight of the speaker's execution at the Shambles' Gate or by the scaffold's foot. It is an ironical reference as the people who apparently were ready to worship him are now cheering at his execution.

(v) The speaker is being taken to scaffold to be executed for his "year's misdeeds." The justification of this action cannot be fully comprehended. Refer to Ambiguity in the Poem under Critical Remarks, Page 124.

IV.( i) The speaker 'I' is going to the Shambles' Gate or by the scaffold's foot in the rain. Refer to Pathetic Fallacy, under Style, Page 123.

(ii) The speaker's hands were tied from behind with a rope. This rope cuts his wrist. The line is significant to determine the extent of the speaker's downfall. He was once loved by the public but now is imprisoned.

(iii) The speaker's forehead bleeds because the public had thrown stones at him for a year's misdoings. Earlier he was treated with love and respect. He was welcomed with roses on his way. The public was completely devoted to him, which thus acts as an antithesis for him being hit by stones later in the poem.

(iv) Refer to Public's Fickleness under Themes, Page 120.

(v) The poem runs on certain levels of ambiguity. We are never told the reason for the speaker's execution. The speaker was once a hero who "leaped at the sun" but is now reduced to an unheroic character. At one point the speaker feels dejected at his harvest, at another he himself says people flung stones at him for his "year's misdeeds." This phrase adds to the ambiguity in the poem as the speaker has been depicted as innocent by the poet. The readers tend to sympathise with him, but his own reference to his year as full of misdeeds creates ambiguity in the poem.

V. (i) The speaker enters the gates of death to 'go' to his everlasting life after death.

(ii) The speaker believes that in victory, people drop down dead but his imperfection will bring him closer to God. The figure of speech used here is alliteration because of the repetition of I d sounds in the words "dropped down dead:"

(iii) The speaker feels safe in the other world away from this earthly world. Refer to Innocent Depiction of the Speaker, under Critical Remarks, Page 125.

(iv) Refer to Faith in God, under Themes, Page 121.

(v) Refer to Rise and Fall of Glory, under Themes, Page 121.