Now
Out of your whole life give but one moment!
All of your life that has gone before,
All to come after it, – so you ignore,
So you make perfect the present, – condense,
In a rapture of rage, for perfection’s endowment,
Thought and feeling and soul and sense –
Merged in a moment which gives me at last
You around me for once, you beneath me, above me –
Me – sure that despite of time future, time past, –
This tick of our life-time’s one moment you love me!
How long such suspension may linger? Ah, Sweet –
The moment eternal – just that and no more –
When ecstasy’s utmost we clutch at the core
While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut and lips meet!
Summary of Now
- Popularity of “Now”: Written by Robert Browning, a great English poet and dramatist, “Now” is a love poem. It expresses the speaker’s desire for a spectacular union with his lady. It beautifully encapsulates the best part of love between the two lovers. The poem, however, became famous due to the theme of ideal love and ecstasy.
- “Now” As a Representative of Love: This is a love poem. It frames the intimate desires of a lover. The poem begins when the speaker urges his beloved to give him one moment of complete love. Right from the start, the speaker shows awareness that perfect love exists for a fleeting moment. Therefore, he asks his beloved to commit to this brief moment to strengthen their love. The speaker wants this moment to last in a mighty swell of emotions. He simply desires to concentrate on the existing joyous moment of ecstasy. As the poem continues, he provides further details of his brief achievement of ideal love. Although the short-lived ecstatic union will last for a short time, it gives them a chance to eradicate all the doubts they may have regarding their love. The final stanza explains the intense desire of the speaker that he wants to embrace this sacred moment forever, which is quite ironic and impossible.
- Major Themes in “Now”: Love, union, and desires are the major themes of the poem. This love poem shows how the speaker wants to steal some time from life to live one moment of perfect love. At that moment, he wants to liberate himself from reality and embrace his lady from the bottom of his heart. The poem beautifully expresses his feelings and emotions by describing the charm of one perfect moment in which he feels their union is complete. He wants to hold that grand moment forever, which is impossible. Although he has a crazy desire to remain stuck in time, it shows his love and admiration for his lady. Also, it shows that he owns her and wants to be faithful to her until his last breath. Through this simple poem, Browning wants to say that love needs emotions like loyalty, faithfulness, and devotion to last forever.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Now
literary devices are powerful tools. Their appropriate usage brings clarity and depth into simple poetic pieces. Robert Browning has used many literary devices in the poem, whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “So you make perfect the present, – condense” and the sound of /o/ in “You around me for once, you beneath me, above me.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /s/ in “long such suspension may linger.”
- Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. Browning has repeated the word “all” in the first stanza of the poem to emphasize the point such as;
“All of your life that has gone before,
All to come after it, – so you ignore,”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “Me – sure that despite of time future, time past” and the sound of /n/ in “How long such suspension may linger? Ah, Sweet.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“When ecstasy’s utmost we clutch at the core
While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut and lips meet!”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Robert Browning has used imagery in this poem such as; “Merged in a moment which gives me at last”, “This tick of our life-time’s one moment you love me” and “While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut and lips meet.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used love as an extended metaphor to show how it brings eternal joy to lovers.
- Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical question is a question that is not asked to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. Browning has posed rhetorical questions at the end of the poem, such as; “How long such suspension may linger?”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as love, union, desires, joy, and commitment.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Now
Poetic devices are different from literary devices. Literary devices bring richness to the text, while poetic devices help writers to set appropriate structures in the poem. The analysis of the poetic devices used in the poem is as follows.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and impressive images.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Robert Browning has used end rhyme in this poem, such as; “before/ignore”, “more/core” and “last/past.”
- Petrarchan sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem usually written in iambic pentameter. This is a Petrarchan sonnet and it comprises three quatrains and a couplet.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are fourteen lines in this poem with no stanza break.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful for the lovers to quote to explain their feelings after spending quality time with their lovers.
“The moment eternal – just that and no more –
When ecstasy’s utmost we clutch at the core
While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut and lips meet!”