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ROBERT BROWNING–The PATRIOT

SUMMARY ANALYSIS

   ABOUT THE POEM

The Patriot is a dramatic monologue ” by Robert Browning, a well-known English poet, and dramatist. He is renowned for his theatrical monologues and is regarded as one of the most important Victorian poets. Browning discusses politics, nationalism, religious belief, and the harsh reality of rulers who are true to their patriotism in this poem. It refers to the sacrifices made by leaders who are misunderstood by the general public.

   The poem’s speaker is a patriot. The poetry is a monologue by this “patriot speaker,” who tells us his story as he is led to the scaffold to be publicly executed for his “misdeeds.” He describes his predicament, describing how he was previously universally loved but is now hated by the same individuals. The patriot is blameless of any misdeeds, and he is only being executed due to public misunderstanding. His punishment is for the wrong reason, and despite his best efforts, he has failed to convince the people to listen to him.

‘The Patriot’ is a scathing indictment of popular opinion and morality. It emphasizes the fact that not all actions taken or led by people are correct or in their personal best interests. The poetry seems to have a sense of universality to it, as history has seen many such “patriots” rise and fall along its course – a sobering warning that life is unpredictable!

SUMMARY ANALYSIS

The poem features a clear Ababa rhyme pattern that is retained and kept throughout all of the poem’s stanzas. The poem begins with the circumstances of the past in the first two stanzas. The poet’s discovery in the third stanza is why and how the circumstances changed, and how they changed against him. The past and present are contrasted in the fourth and fifth stanzas. The poet’s acceptance of his situation and expression of hope is expressed in the final stanza. The poem follows an organized process of a story in which the past conditions are described, the drive for change is examined, the current state is demonstrated, and an ultimate outcome is reached on everything as a whole.
only one stanza

1ST  STANZ ROBERT BROWNING–The PATRIOT

The patriot begins the poem by recalling an event — a grand public greeting – that occurred a year earlier on the same day. He’s reminiscing about the past, and as he recalls that day, he paints a picture for us. His strolling path was littered with rose petals, some of which had myrtle mingled in. These flowers were strewn across the path for h

                                    As he drove by, people on the roofs of their houses shouted for him. They were ecstatic to finally see him. The church’s spires – pointed tapering roofs common on antique cathedrals and similar structures – were draped with flame flags, which the people had erected for a celebration. People were ecstatic to see their hero and were overjoyed to see him as he passed past.

It’s only natural to think that this lavish celebration is the consequence of the speaker’s accomplishment. Perhaps it was a war victory or the gathering for fighting one,  gaining a national vote to a position, or being nominated as a monarch, or something else. It’s safe to suppose that by this point in the poem, it had piqued the interest of the common people, and they were overjoyed. In this stanza, the patriot is viewed as a public hero who is hailed with tremendous affection and love by ordinary people.

2nd STANZ  ROBERT BROWNING-The PATRIOT

The speaker continues in the second verse by saying that on such a day, the atmosphere was filled with cheerful bell sounds. He also describes how tens of thousands of people flocked to see him, pressing up against by the old walls of the homes. They even cheered and booed the speaker, their hero. As a result, the port recalls that he even promised to deliver the sun to them. The speaker was willing to execute any difficult deed for his nation, as shown by the poet’s usage of the sun symbolically.

3rd STANZA ROBERT BROWNING-The PATRIOT
The scenario now transitions to the same day a year later. In the loss, the patriot sighs Alack. He jumped at the sun, according to him, to offer it to his caring companions to cherish. It was a challenging task that no one could have completed if he had not completed it.

The concept of jumping at the sun was inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus. Icarus attempted to fly high by using wax to attach wings to his arms. He was able to fly up successfully. However, as he flew higher and higher (closer to the sun), the wax began to melt away, and his wings eventually disconnected from his body. He collapsed and died.

The conclusion of this Greek tale is that everyone should never go beyond one’s bounds, as this will lead to one’s demise. In addition, the patriot regrets doing that much for his country and people. He has done too much and now regrets his fight for bringing him to this point.

4th STANZA ROBERT BROWNING-The PATRIOT 

The speaker returns to his current situation in the fourth stanza. In contrast to the first second stanza, the situation a year later is one of sadness and loneliness, as the narrator is led to the scaffold of execution following his conviction. From their windows, only the palsied elderly appear to be observing. No one shows up when he is led to the ‘Shambles’ Gate, possibly since no one wants to watch him die. People like to be where the action is, so the speaker goes on to say that the greatest view would be at the slaughterhouse gate or at the base of the scaffold.

Throughout The Patriot poem, the speaker’s woes are disclosed. It’s raining, and his wrist appears to be cut by the tied rope. When a stone is hurled at the speaker for everything he has done in the last year, that is, for all faults, he reaches the pinnacle of humiliation.

5th STANZA ROBERT BROWNING-The PATRIOT

The patriot is led to the Scaffold in the rain in the fifth verse. A rope slices into his skin and ties his hands securely behind his back. He notices a blemish on his brow. It’s because some harsh and ungrateful people threw stones at him. They had undertaken this to express their displeasure with him for his alleged transgressions during the year.

The sixth stanza describes in detail how people respond when they discover a traitor. This verse has a poignant quality to it. The traitor is about to be hanged on the gallows. He is being stoned by so-called intellectuals, and his forehead is bleeding. An allusion to Christ’s crucifixion can be found.

6th STANZA ROBERT BROWNING-The PATRIOT
The final stanza expresses the futility of public adoration and existence in general. As he says, “Thus I entered and thus I go,” the “patriot” repeats the classic lines.

He admits that popular sentiment has always been unkind to great men and that their greatest wins have been followed by their worst defeats. The alliteration emphasizes the injustice meted out to great persons who have been rewarded by the world in the most unjust ways for their deeds: People have died as a result of victories.
The narrator concludes his hopeless monologue with the hope that God will better judge him for everything he’s been through.

The Patriot is a stinging assessment of public opinion and the ordinary population’s irrationality. The poem almost absolves the narrator of his (literally untold) wrongdoings while also cleverly highlighting the public’s ravenous frenzy. The fact that the “patriot” goes to God for a just judgment of his conduct without feeling sorrow or remorse corroborates this vindication.