"Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" is a

soliloquy A soliloquy (, from Latin ''solo'' "to oneself" + ''loquor'' "I talk", plural ''soliloquies'') is a monologue addressed to oneself, thoughts spoken out loud without addressing another. Soliloquies are used as a device in drama to let a character ...

written by

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

, first published in his collection ''

Dramatic Lyrics ''Dramatic Lyrics'' is a collection of English poems by Robert Browning, first published in 1842 as the third volume in a series of self-published books entitled ''Bells and Pomegranates''. It is most famous as the first appearance of Browning's ...

'' (1842). It is written in the voice of an unnamed Spanish

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. The poem consists of nine eight-line

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s and is written in

trochaic tetrameter Trochaic tetrameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line of four trochaic feet. The etymology of the word Trochaic is the Greek word ''trokhaios'', from the verb ''trecho'', which means "I run". In classical metre, a trochee is a foot consis ...

. The plot of the poem centers around the speaker's hatred for "Brother Lawrence", a fellow monk in the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

. The speaker notes the trivial ways in which Brother Lawrence fails in his

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, and then plots to murder, or damn the soul of, Brother Lawrence. However, the poem ends before the speaker can finish, when he is interrupted by the bells proclaiming it is time for

vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...

References

Lecture on the subject
��English 262 "A Survey Of British Literature", Columbus State Community College "Global Campus" *

Further reference bibliography

* ''Abstract''

* * *

External links

{{Robert Browning 1842 poems Humorous poems Poetry by Robert Browning