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Derrick Collins
Professor Kennedy
ENGL 2333.P02
October 13, 2010
Death Imagery in Browning and Dickinson
Robert Browning and Emily Dickinson are widely regarded as two of the greatest poets
of the Romantic era. These writers display a range of themes with their own unique writing
styles in their poetry. In “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church” by Browning
and “341” and “449,” by Dickinson, death is a reoccurring theme shared by the two poets.
Browning demonstrates the theme of death in a lengthy poem, while Dickinson expresses morbid
ideas in a series of short literary pieces. As each poet explores the nature of death, each also
projects a philosophical image of life as well.
Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint
Praxed’s Church” is written from the perspective of a Bishop on his deathbed. The Bishop claims
he has not lived his life honestly. In his dying moments, he truly reveals himself in the poem, not
as a devout Christian, but somebody who has lost faith in his religion, has become materialistic,
and has spite for his deceased rival. One of the first indicating signs of the Bishop’s change in
personality occurs when he is addressing his sons: “Draw round my bed / Nephews—sons
mine…ah God, I know not” (2-3). The response demonstrates the Bishop has lied to his sons as
being their uncle, not their father until he was dying. The revelation shows the character has
pretended to be someone he is not throughout his life.
The Bishop voices agonizing doubts on his religion and the afterlife, “And as yon tapers
dwindle, and strange thoughts / Grow, with a certain humming in my ears / About the life
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before I lived this life / And this life too, popes, cardinals, and priests” (91-94). Unlike a
devout Christian, the Bishop expects to experience death in a tomb, not an afterlife in heaven.
Also, contrary to his religious beliefs, he displays materialistic characteristics: “And let the
bedclothes, for a mortcloth, drop / Into great laps and folds of sculptor’s-work” (81, 88-90).
Instead of focusing on his religious afterlife, the Bishop concentrates on the earthly reminder of
his existence. The dying Bishop directs his sons to construct an elaborate and pretentious tomb
for himself. Along with assembling his grand tomb, the Bishop intends to triumph over his
deceased rival, “Old Gandolf with his paltry onion-stone / Put me where I may look at him!
True peach / Rosy and flawless: how I earned the prized” (31-33). Further proof of the Bishop
living a lie as a holy man, he denounces his predecessor’s final resting place as inferior. Robert
Browning uses the dying moments of the Bishop to expose the character’s true personality and
uncover his dark secrets.
In “341,” Emily Dickinson, on the other hand, writes on how one manages the death of a
loved one. Dickinson communicates the predictable feeling following such a tragedy, “After
great pain, a formal feeling comes / The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs” (1-2). The
anticipated sensation is one of numbness “like tombs” and lack of emotion. Also, Dickinson
appears to have doubts in God, “The stiff Heart questions was it He,” symbolizing “He” to be
Christ (3). She asserts people mourning a significant death maneuver through the days on
autopilot, “The Feet, mechanical, go round” (5). Dickinson concludes the poem, “First—Chill—
Then Stupor—then the letting go,” summarizing the process of agonizing over a loved one’s
death: initially grief stricken, next a coma like state, and finally “letting go” (13).
Dickinson, furthermore, writes “449” from the perspective of a woman who “died for
Beauty—but was scarce / Adjusted in the Tomb” (1-2). She is not well adapted to her tomb
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until a man is buried next to her, the “One who died for Truth” (3). The two become familiar
with each other, understanding both ultimately died to confront the same consequence, one for
“Beauty” and the other for “Truth”; therefore, they are “Brethren” (5-8). Over time, their lives
are forgotten and ultimately their identities erased, as the “Moss had reached our lips” and also
“covered up—our names” on their tombs (11-12).
As the common theme of death emerges in these poems, a tone of religious doubt occurs
as well. Browning’s Bishop as well as Dickinson’s “341,” question religion or the belief in
God. The Bishop in Browning’s poem reveals his doubts on faith and the existence of heaven as
a result of his dying hours. On the other hand, Dickinson describes a person with doubts in God
who is struggling with the death of a loved one. The Bishop admits on his deathbed he does not
believe in heaven, a statement unimaginable from a true Christian. Dickinson in “341” debates
the existence of an afterlife, “Of Ground, or Air, or Ought” (6). She wavers on whether the soul
of a deceased individual combines with the earth, travels somewhere meaningful, or ceases to
exist after death.
In “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church” and Dickinson’s “449,” the
ultimate loss of identity after death is established. The Bishop loses confidence in his sons’
abilities to build his ornamented tomb, the monument he hopes people will remember his life by
after he is dead, “There, leave me, there! / For ye have stabbed me with ingratitude / To
death—ye wish it—God, ye wish it! Stone / Gritstone, a-crumble” (113-116). In “449,”
Dickinson concludes, similar to the Bishop, the buried man’s and woman’s memories are
eventually forgotten, and their existence fades away as time passes.
Exploring the nature of death and it implications arose as a popular theme to many
Romantics of this era. In Browning’s work, the Bishop’s true personality is unmasked for the
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first time on his deathbed. Dickinson describes the process of mourning a loved one’s death as
well as questioning the existence of God and the afterlife in “341.” In “449,” Dickinson explains
a person’s identity and sense of self disappearing after death. Both Romantic poets are able to
unravel the thoughts of characters in the setting of death, examine legacies of the deceased, and
discuss the fate of an individual’s soul.
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Works Cited
Browning, Robert. “Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church.” The Norton Anthology
of World Literature. Ed. Maynard Mack. et. al. 2nd ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, 2002. 3 Vols. 911-914. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. “449.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Maynard Mack. et. al.
2nd ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002. 3 Vols. 1053. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. “341.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Maynard Mack. et. al.
2nd ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002. 3 Vols. 1053. Print.