The Dance of Fallen Stars (A student's Robert Browning mock poem)

On pavement does the gray fog cloak thy feet,

Under the chandelier of scattered stars.

Whilst hand in hand thou dance reflects on street

Despite thy clouds they sing, the night is ours.

Above us trees are fire, bright fall hues,

By feet that dance and splash to their own song

In thy bright eyes of night I see my muse,

To wait for love one waits too long.

The love of life, and thou will fall

Thy night you find yourself a star

If love is joy then fear it all,

For stars are souls whom fell too far.

Thou life severed by breaking dawn

A bandit thief, the name of love

To fear and hate and loathe thereon

Love broke thou throne, no mourning dove.

For love is life

and life means death                                                                

To love is end

and fear the rest.

 

This poem follows several traits that the poet, Robert Browning often followed. One common trait of Browning’s poems is the dark tone, where love and death are often paired together. For example, Porphyria’s Lover was a poem about death and love, although the exact events are up for interpretation.

The poem above is a study of love, life, and death.  Although there is a fleeting sense of hope, especially in the second stanza, the theme is dark and ends leaving a somber connotation on an otherwise happy word, love. Browning also uses a rhyme scheme in most of his poems. The rhyme scheme above is mostly Petrarchan, which most Shakespearian sonnets also follow.

My poem also follows Browning’s use of old English and an earlier era, where words such as ‘thy’, ‘thou’, and ‘art’ are used.  Browning’s poems have been seen as studies of psychological disorders, such as depression caused by the heartbreak of love. 

Both my fourth stanza and last stanza, carry a dark and depressed connotation and a sense of anger towards life and love. We can also leave this to interpretation.