Note the rapidity of narration and the galloping movement of the verse; the time of starting, and the anxious attention to the time as the journey proceeds. How are we given a sense of the effort and distress of the horses? How do we see Roland gradually emerging as the hero? Where is the climax of the story? Note, especially, the power or beauty of lines 2, 5, 7, 15, 23, 25, 39, 40, 47, 51-53, 54-56.
HERVÉ RIEL. (PAGE [22].)
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(Published in the Cornhill Magazine, 1871. Browning gave the £100 received for the poem to the fund for the relief of the people of Paris, who were starving after the siege of 1870.)
The cause of James II., who had been removed from the English throne in 1688, and succeeded by William and Mary, was taken up by the French. The story is strictly historical,[page 238] except that Hervé Riel asked a holiday for the rest of his life.
[5]. St. Malo on the [Rance]. On the northern coast of France, in Brittany. See any large atlas.
[43]. [pressed]. Forced to enter service in the navy.
[44]. [Croisickese]. A native of Croisic, in Brittany. Browning has used the legends of Croisic for poetic material in his Gold Hair of Pornic and in The Two Poets of Croisic.
[46]. [Malouins]. Inhabitants of St. Malo.
[135]. The [Louvre]. The great palace and art gallery of Paris.