“A Woman's Last Word” Introduction

• Read the full text of “A Woman's Last Word”

“A Woman's Last Word” Summary

“A Woman's Last Word” Themes

• 

  Being Right vs. Being Comfortable

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• 

  Gender and Power in Relationships

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Woman's Last Word”

• Lines 1-4

  Let's contend no more, Love,
  Strive nor weep—
  All be as before, Love,
  —Only sleep!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  What so wild as words are?
  —I and thou
  In debate, as birds are,
  Hawk on bough!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  See the creature stalking
  While we speak—
  Hush and hide the talking,
  Cheek on cheek!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  What so false as truth is,
  False to thee?
  Where the serpent's tooth is
  Shun the tree—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  Where the apple reddens
  Never pry—
  Lest we lose our Edens,
  Eve and I!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  Be a god and hold me
  With a charm—
  Be a man and fold me
  With thine arm!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  Teach me, only teach, Love!
  As I ought
  I will speak thy speech, Love,
  Think thy thought—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  Meet, if thou require it,
  Both demands,
  Laying flesh and spirit
  In thy hands!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 33-36

  That shall be to-morrow
  Not to-night:
  I must bury sorrow
  Out of sight.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 37-40

  —Must a little weep, Love,
  —Foolish me!
  And so fall asleep, Love,
  Loved by thee.

  

  

  

  

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“A Woman's Last Word” Symbols

• 

  The Apple/Tree

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“A Woman's Last Word” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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“A Woman's Last Word” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Contend
• Strive
• Thou
• Bough
• Thee
• Shun
• Pry
• Edens
• Eve
• Thine
• Thy

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Woman's Last Word”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“A Woman's Last Word” Speaker

“A Woman's Last Word” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “A Woman's Last Word”

More “A Woman's Last Word” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Reading of the Poem — Listen to "A Woman's Last Word" read aloud, accompanied by piano.  

  • The Poet's Life and Work — Check out the Poetry Foundation's biography of Robert Browning. 

  • Robert Browning and Feminism — An essay exploring the ways in which some of Browning's most famous poems highlight the patriarchal double standards of Victorian society. 

  • A Guide to the Dramatic Monologue — Listen to Oregon State University professor Neil Davison explain the history of Robert Browning's favored form.  

  • The Legacy of Robert Browning — Read an essay celebrating the bicentenary of Browning's birth and learn how Browning continues to influence poetry today. 

  • Men and Women: Project Gutenberg E-Book — Read an in-depth introduction to Browning's Men and Women, in which "A Woman's Last Word" was published, and peruse the other poems that originally appeared alongside this one.  

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Browning

  • A Face

  • A Light Woman

  • Among the Rocks

  • A Toccata of Galuppi's

  • Confessions

  • Epilogue

  • Home-Thoughts, from Abroad

  • How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix

  • Life in a Love

  • Love Among the Ruins

  • Love in a Life

  • Meeting at Night

  • My Last Duchess

  • Pictor Ignotus

  • Porphyria's Lover

  • Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister

  • The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church

  • The Laboratory

  • The Last Ride Together

  • The Lost Leader

  • The Lost Mistress

  • The Patriot

  • The Pied Piper of Hamelin

  • Women and Roses