Author: Robert Browning
If you and I could change to beasts, what beast should either be? Shall you and I play Jove for once? Turn fox then, I decree! Shy wild sweet stealer of the grapes! Now do your worst on me! And thus you think to spite your friend, turned loathsome? What, a toad? So, all men shrink and shun me! Dear men, pursue your road! Leave but my crevice in the stone, a reptiles fit abode Now say your worst, Canidia! Hes loathsome, I allow: There may or may not lurk a pearl beneath his puckered brow: But see his eyes that follow mine, love lasts there, anyhow.
Type of Poem: Clerihew
Date Written:
Date Published:
Language: English
Keywords: Public Domain
Source: Public Domain Collection
Publisher:
Rights/Permissions: Public Domain
Comments/Notes: This poem presents an exploration of identity, transformation, and love through the prism of classical mythology, making use of the figure of Jove and a dialogue with a woman named Canidia. The poem opens with a hypothetical question about metamorphosis into animals, suggesting both a playful tone and a deeper exploration of our inherent nature. The choice of a fox and a toad adds complexity, as these creatures are often associated with cunning and repulsion, respectively, in traditional symbolism.
The poem's structure divides neatly into three stanzas, each presenting a different stage of the speaker's transformation and emotional response. The use of direct address to Canidia in the final stanza adds a sense of immediacy and intimacy. The tone throughout is both defiant and vulnerable, underscored by a repeated appeal to the reader to "do your worst" or "say your worst." The poem's standout literary device is its employment of classical allusions, which adds depth and a sense of universality to its themes. While the poem does dwell on themes of rejection and transformation, it ultimately affirms the enduring power of love, as evidenced in the final line: "But see his eyes that follow mine, love lasts there, anyhow." This line suggests that, regardless of external transformations, the speaker's love remains steadfast.