THE LAST RIDE TOGETHER - Robert Browning - II BA/BSc/BCom - Part II English notes

"THE LAST RIDE TOGETHER" - Robert Browning

Introduction:

This is a dramatic monologue by Robert Browning. This poem is about a man (who is the speaker) who asks his mistress ( who seems to be the listener but the listener could be ambiguous) for one last ride and she agrees to one last ride together. Language in the poem seems to suggests that he is dying and this is his last wish or that he feels he can't live with out his mistress. the lines are in an aa,bb,c,dd,eee,c rhyme scheme. Part of the men and women collection and Browing refers to art and love in the poem which is one of his intentions to explore.

The Rapture of a Rejected Lover:

The Last Ride Together." The rapture of a rejected lover in the one more last ride which he asks for and obtains, discovers for him the all-sufficing glory of love in itself. Soldiership, statesmanship, art are disproportionate in their results; love can be its own reward, yes, heaven itself.

A VIVID TREATMENT of the PAST:

"Last Ride Together" contains a vivid treatment of the past in stanzas 5 and 6

"Why, all men strive and who succeeds?" ;
"There's many a crown for who can reach.
Ten lines, a statesman's life in each!"

and adds, in stanzas 7 and 8, the activities of poets and artists – these pursuits, arguably noble though they are, can amount to wasting one's life from the standpoint of personal, romantic gratification

"Are you – poor, sick, old ere your time –
Nearer one whit your own sublime
Than we who have never turned a rhyme?"

However, the speaker cannot even take comfort in the reality of present love and so must confine himself even more firmly in the joys of the present - a ride with his beloved - enough to forget that nothing durable lies beyond them.

Thus this speaker equates the "hope" (l.8) he used to have of love with all the follies of soldiers and artists; all amount to nothing but idealism and hubris. The poem, however, does end on a note of possible optimism, with the speaker contemplating the idea of a heaven consisting of the ephemeral joys of this ride stretched out over all eternity.

Irrelevance of the PAST:

“The Last Ride Together” makes profound statements concerning the irrelevance of the past in relation to present emotions and sentiments. More specifically, Browning discusses hopes that have not been fulfilled, and places them in direct contrast to present circumstances. By revealing the idea that sentiments and events of the past often have little effect on future outcomes, Browning suggests that life should not involve dwelling on the past or hoping for the future, but living in the moment.


The Contrast between the Past and the Present:

The narrator of “The Last Ride Together” presents the contrast between past and present when he says

“contrast / The petty done, the undone vast,
This present of theirs with the hopeful past!
I hoped she would love me; here we ride”

In this case, the hopes of the narrator that his love would be reciprocated have obviously not been realized, as the couple now rides together for the last time. In the fourth stanza, he writes

“Past hopes already lay behind.
What need to strive with a life awry?
Might she have loved me? Just as well
She might have hated, who can tell!”

Here the narrator conveys the idea that his hopes and his actions of the past have been useless in leading up to the state of the present, and also says that his soul has been liberated by letting go of the hopes of the past, thus further suggesting the negativity of hopes. These two passages are indicative of the overall tone of this poem. The narrator wants to forget the past and any ill-advised hopes or ideas he had, and focus on the pure emotions of the moment provided by the ride.

Conclusion:

Thus through this poem, Browning expresses the view that, the past is insignificant, and that one need only live in the moment in order to pursue happiness in life. The juxtapositions of city and ruins, hope for love and a last ride together, both illustrate this idea dramatically. One can learn not to look back on what one hoped for, but only to look forward at what one has.
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