First construct the scene of the poem. What has the priest said? What is the sick man's answer? What evidence is there that his imagination is struggling to recall the old memory?[page 243] What view of life does the priest offer, and he reject? Does Browning indicate his preference for either view, or tell the story impartially?
A WOMAN'S LAST WORD. (PAGE [53].)
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What key to the situation in the first line? Who are the speaker and the one addressed? What mood and feeling are in control? Comment upon the condensation of the thought and the movement of the verse.
A PRETTY WOMAN. (PAGE [55].)
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25-27. Compare Emerson's lines in The Rhodora:—
"If eyes were made for seeing, Then beauty is its own excuse for being."
To what things is the "Pretty Woman" compared? Of what use is she? How is she to be judged?