Question

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came

Accepted Answer

a poemRobert Browning1855the title is taken from Shakespeare's king Learthis masterful and enigmatic nightmare poem was apparently one result of resolution made by Browning in 1852 to write a poem a dayChilde Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a poem by English author Robert Browning, written on January 2nd, 1852[1] and first published in 1855 in the collection titled Men and Women.[2]Setting and contentThe name Roland, references to his slughorn (a pseudo-medieval instrument which only ever existed in the mind of Thomas Chatterton and Browning himself), general medieval setting, and the title childe (a medieval term not for a child but for an untested knight) suggest that the protagonist is the paladin of The Song of Roland, the 11th century anonymous French chanson de geste, among other works.The poem opens with Roland's speculations about the truthfulness of the man who gives him directions to the Dark Tower. Browning does not retell the Song of Roland; his starting point is Shakespeare. The gloomy, cynical Roland seeks the tower and undergoes various hardships on the way, although most of the obstacles arise from his own imagination. Upon reaching the Tower, Roland finds all those who failed to reach the tower, and under it he finally shouts "Childe Roland to the dark tower came". What Roland finds inside the tower is not revealed.InterpretationWilliam Lyon Phelps proposes three different interpretations of the poem: In the first two, the Tower is a symbol of a knightly quest. Success only comes through failure or the end is the realisation of futility. In his third interpretation, the Tower is simply damnation.For Margaret Atwood, Childe Roland is Browning himself, his quest is to write this poem, and the Dark Tower contains that which Roland/Browning fears most: Roland/Browning "in his poem-writing aspect".

Tower Roland Dark Poem Browning Childe Title Write