The Last Ride Together

Robert Browning

INTRODUCTION

The poem The Last Ride Together is regarded as one of the finest love-poems of Browning.
It is a rather long poem of ten stanzas, each of eleven lines. It was first published in 1855 in
Vol. I of the Collection of Browning's poems entitled ‘Men and Women’. Later, it was
included in ‘Dramatic Romances’ published in 1868.

The Last Ride Together is a dramatic monologue and it shows Browning at his best in the
handling of this poetic form. It has also been called a dramatic lyric because it is not an
expression of his own personal emotions, but that of an imagined character. It is spoken by a
lover who loved his lady over a long period of time, and who, after making him wait for so
long, finally rejected him, and turned to another lover. The lover then prayed to her to grant
two requests of his. First, that she should remember his love of her, and secondly, that she
should come with him for a last ride together. To his great joy the lady consented.

Critical Appreciation

The poem depicts the ride which a finally dismissed lover has been allowed to take with his
beloved. He has mainly passed his youth in loving her but not in winning her. But as this
boon of a last ride together is granted, lies for a moment on his breast. As they ride away side
by side, a sense of resignation comes over the lover. He thinks that his life is not alone in its
failure. Every one strives, but few succeed. The best success proves itself to be shallow. And
if it were otherwise; if one's goal could be reached on earth, what care one could have for
heaven. He fancies himself riding with his beloved till the end of time, and he asks himself if
his destined heaven may not prove to be this ride.

Knowing that his love has been finally rejected, the lover's heart rises to bless his lady love.
He only asks for a last ride with her and gets the permission for it. The lady hesitates but
finally agrees. Blood again replenishes the heart of the dejected lover. He is very happy in
thinking that at last he and his beloved will ride side by side. How sweet it would be if the
world were to come to an end that night. The lady lies for a moment on his breast. Just as the
sight of the wave like clouds of the evening sky, glorified by the light of the setting sun, the
moon and the stars, makes a man forget his surroundings, and transports him into heaven for
the time being, similarly the lover feels a bliss, and a joy when his lady rests her head on his
breast. The ride begins and the lover's heart, which had been afflicted by the rejection of the
lady, is again filled with joy. He does not like to think about the past. Even if he had
forcefully declared his love, he might have succeeded or might have failed completely. Who
knows? At least he has at that time the satisfaction of riding by her side.

The lover is not the only instance of failure in life. All men work, but only a few succeed. At
the completion of a work, it appears, that what has been achieved is petty, but what is not
achieved is vast. The lover has, at least, succeeded in getting this last ride, with his beloved
but execution always falls short of conception. A man cannot achieve in his life time what he
sets about to accomplish. Ten lines are written by way of epitaph on the life of a statesman
and the soldier's name is inscribed on the tomb in Westminster Abbey at the best. They are

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failures as compared to the lover, who had got the reward of his last ride with his beloved.
The poet also composes melodious rhymes, and expresses the longings and feelings of other
people in a beautiful manner. But the poet grows poor, sick and old before his old age. He
does not feel in his own life, what he considers best for human beings. His life ends
hopelessly. The lover is better than the poet, for he has the joy of riding by the side of his
beloved. The sculptor fares (gets rewarded) no better than the poet. The highest expression of
beauty in sculpture is less attractive than a living rustic girl. The musician also gets a poor
reward for his life-long devotion to music. He cannot hold the public for long. So the lover's
last ride is a better reward than theirs. The lover consoles himself by saying that he must not
consider the earthly life as the consummation of his desires. Real life begins in heaven. He
would have his lady love in heaven. Earthly life has been good to him for he is riding by the
side of his beloved, and so the heavenly life would still be better. There is hope in the heart of
the lover. Throughout the ride the lady does not speak a word. The lover fancies himself
riding with his lady love till the end of his time and he asks himself if his destined heaven
may not prove to be the last ride together with his beloved.

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Critical Analysis

Such is the love-situation out of which the monologue grows. It is spoken by the lover as he
rides by the side of his beloved for the last time. As they commence their ride, the beloved for
a moment bends over him and places her head over his shoulders. It seems to him as if
heaven itself had descended over him, so great is the bliss he experiences at the moment.

As they ride along, the lover experiences a heavenly bliss. His soul which had lost its
happiness and on which grief had left its ugly marks and wrinkles, now smoothens itself out
like a crumpled sheet of paper, which opens out and flutters in the wind. All his hopes of
success in love, all hopes of a happy life with his beloved, were now dead and gone. His love
was now a matter of the past. But the lover does not despair. He shares Browning's optimism
and says that it is no use to regret or to feel sorry for a life which has been ruined. What is
ended cannot be mended. It is no use speculating over his possible success, if he had acted
and spoken differently. It is just possible that had he acted differently, instead of loving him,
she might have hated him. Now she is only indifferent to him. Now at least she rides by his
side. He derives consolation from this fact, instead of brooding sadly over the dead past.

The lover then reflects over the lot of humanity in general, and derives further consolation
from the fact that he is not the only one who has failed in life. Such is the lot of man that all
try, but none succeeds. All labour, but all fail ultimately to achieve their ends. How little of
success and achievement, and how much of failure does the whole world show! He is lucky
in the sense that, at least, he rides by the side of his beloved. Others do not get even that
much of success. There is always a wide disparity between conception and execution,
between ambition and achievement. Human will is seldom transformed into action; human
limitations always hamper action and the achievement of one's desires. No one gets an
adequate reward for his achievements. The only reward, even of the most successful
statesman, is a short obituary notice and that of a heroic warrior only an epitaph over his
grave in the Westminster Abbey. The poet, no doubt, achieves much. He expresses human

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thoughts and emotions in a sweet, melodious language, but he does not get any of the good
things of life. He lives and dies in poverty. The great sculptor and musician, too, are failures.
From even the most beautiful piece of sculpture, say a statue of the goddess, Venus, one turns
to an ordinary, but a living, breathing, girl; and fashions in music are quick to change.
Comparatively, he is more successful for he has, at least, been rewarded with the company of
his beloved. At least, he has the pleasure of riding with her by his side.

It is difficult to say what is good and what is not good for man in this world. Achievement of
perfect happiness in this world means that one would have no hopes left for life in the other
world. Failure in this world is essential for success and achievement in the life to come. He
has failed in this life, but this is a blessing in disguise. It means that he would be successful in
the life to come. He can now hope for happiness in the other world. Because he did not get
his beloved here, he is sure to enjoy the bliss of her love in the life after death. Now for him,
"both Heaven and she are beyond this ride." Failure in this world is best. Further, so hopes
the lover, "the instant may become eternity" and they may ride together forever and ever.
Who knows that the world may end that very moment? In that case, they will be together in
the other world, and will be together forever.

Soul-study: Optimism

The monologue lays bare before us the soul of the lover. As he meditates over his past failure
in love, his bliss in the present, and his hopes for the future, we get a peep into his soul. He is
a heroic soul who is not discouraged by his failure in love. He derives consolation from
failure itself. He shares the poet's cheerful optimism, his faith in the immortality of the soul,
and believes, like him, that, "God creates the love to grant the love." It is better to die,
"without a glory garland round one's neck," for there is a life beyond and one should have
some hope left for it, "dim-descried".

An Excellent Love poem

As a love-poem, the monologue has been widely praised. W. H. Phelps calls it, "one of the
greatest love-poems in all literature." As John T. Nettleship tells us, it deals with love, "as an
aspiration which was not to be realised here at all, but must have its completion in the other
life." Herford regards its passion as of a rarer and more difficult kind than that of Evelyn
Hope. It is a poem of unrequited (unanswered) love in which there is nothing but the noblest
resignation (acceptance). There is no despair, no wounded pride, and no anger. “The lover”
says, Berdoe “has the ideal in his heart; it shall be cherished as the occupant of his heart's
throne forever, – of the ideal, at least, he can never be deprived.” The poem illustrates the
truth of Herford's view that in Browning's poetry the tragedy of love is only for the woman;
while his lovers have his own, “supple (flexible) optimism, his analytic, dissipating (break
and scatter) fancy, infused into his portrayal of the grief-pangs of his own sex.” The poem
conveys a message of cheer and optimism to despairing (hopeless) humanity, as well as,
"glows with pure poetic fervour." According to Raleigh, while in other poems the poet is
entirely pre-occupied with the, "glory of failure," the present poem "flushes with the human
glory of possession," though the possession is brief and fleeting. While all other critics are at
one in praising the poem, S. A. Brooke is the only one who points out its inherent defect. He
writes, "the lover in the poem thinks more of his own thoughts than of the woman by his side,
who must have been somewhat wearied by so silent a companion." Intellectual analysis and
argumentation come in the way of emotional intensity.

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Its Style and Versification

The poem is entirely free from the usual faults of Browning. There is no obscurity. The
language is clear, simple and lucid. There is no display of learning, no unusual and far-
fetched comparisons, and no excessive use of parentheses. The poem contains a number of
memorable phrases. To quote only two examples: “The petty done, and the vast undone”,
and, “the instant made eternity”. The images of the, “Billowy bosomed cloud”, and of the
poet's soul opening out like a, “cramped scroll”, are exquisite (unique). The poem also brings
out Browning's skill as a metrist. In the long-drawn rhythm of its verse, the poet has
succeeded in capturing the steady stride of the horses as they carry along their respective
riders. As we read the poem, we seem to hear the very gallop (run / fly) of the two horses:
“The rhythmic beat of the verses accords well with the thought, mood and movement of the
poem.”

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