1Escape me?
2Never—
3Beloved!
4While I am I, and you are you,
5So long as the world contains us both,
6Me the loving and you the loth,
7While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
8My life is a fault at last, I fear:
9It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
10Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
11But what if I fail of my purpose here?
12It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
13To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,
14And, baffled, get up and begin again,—
15So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.
16While, look but once from your farthest bound
17At me so deep in the dust and dark,
18No sooner the old hope goes to ground
19Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark,
20I shape me—
21Ever
22Removed!
The Victorian poet Robert Browning's "Life in a Love," first published in 1855, explores the often obsessive, irrational nature of unrequited love. The poem's speaker vows to endlessly pursue his beloved even in the face of seemingly relentless failure. The form of the poem, in which the last three lines mirror the first three, reflects the circular nature of the poet's quest to reunite with his lover—a quest he vows to renew for "as long as the world contains them both." Browning published "Life in a Love" in his collection Men and Women, a volume dedicated to his wife, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Get away from me? That's impossible, my love! As long as I am myself and you are yourself, and you and I are both living in the same world—me, the one loving you, and you, reluctant to love me back—then even if you run away from me, I must continue to go after you. I worry that my life is ultimately a failure, and yet it seems as though I am simply destined to live like this! Although I'm trying my best to gain your affection, it's unlikely that I'll succeed. But what happens if I fail to achieve my goal? Well, then I must simply keep trying, even though the effort keeps me perpetually on edge. I'll wipe away my tears and simply laugh if I fall while chasing after you; even though I might be frustrated and confused for a moment, I'll get right back up and start the chase all over again. In this way, chasing after you will take up my whole life, but I'm resigned to that. All it takes is one look from you—even if it's from a distance and in the darkness of the night—and then no sooner has my old hope been buried than a new hope crops up, focused on the exact same goal: you. This new hope, which I myself create, will last even if we remain parted forever.
The speaker of “Life in a Love” describes the unrelenting passion he feels for his (now, or soon-to-be, ex-) lover. Although he knows it's likely that he will never achieve his goal of rekindling their romance, the speaker argues that fate, a force greater than his own will, compels him to strive for his lover’s affection until death parts them. Love, here, isn’t particularly happy or romantic; instead, it’s a kind of inescapable, irrational burden that pushes the speaker to endlessly and fruitlessly pursue the object of his desire.
The speaker begins the poem by asserting that, even though his lover has left him, he must continue pursuing her as long as they both live. The poem’s opening lines (“Escape me? / Never—”) reveal that the speaker refuses to believe that their split is permanent. Though his lover “eludes” him, he says he “must” pursue her for “as long as the world contains [them] both.” In other words, so long as they’re both living, he has no choice but to chase after her. Until either he or his lover dies, it's simply the speaker’s “fate” to continue his campaign to reclaim her affection.
That he feels destined to relentlessly seek his lover even if she continues to rebuff him implies that this pursuit is something beyond the speaker’s control. Thus even as he admits that he will “scarce succeed,” he also says that this failure won't convince him to give up on his love; rather, it will only result in keeping his “nerves at strain.” In other words, failure is just a kind of momentary setback rather than a reality check. Unrequited love, here, seems to defy all good sense.
To that end, the speaker resigns himself to the fact that his life will revolve around a kind of impossible quest. Although he knows that he may fail at his “purpose,” he is willing to accept that the “chase” will “take up [his] life.” Rather than give up, the speaker asserts that he will “dry” his eyes, “laugh at a fall,” and “begin again.” While he acknowledges that his lover may always remain “removed” from him, he believes that he will “ever” continue to seek her love.
In refusing to accept the separation his lover desires, Browning’s speaker exemplifies the obsessive, somewhat destructive passion that love can inspire. Rather than move on, the speaker believes it’s his fate to nurture his unrequited love and pursue its object as long as they both live.
The speaker of “Life in a Love” acknowledges that an intractable hope compels him to chase after his beloved after she has left him. Despite knowing that his love may very well remain unrequited, nothing proves more compelling to the speaker than the hope that his lover will one day return his affection. Thus while, on the one hand, the poem speaks to the irrational, helpless nature of unrequited love, in a more generous reading it also illustrates the sustaining power of hope in impossible circumstances.
Throughout the poem, the speaker balances his desire to reunite with his lover with his fear that he may fail to do so. Ultimately, hope prevents the speaker from giving up his pursuit—and because his hope is consistently renewed every time it falters, he believes he will continue seeking his lover all his life.
The speaker says that with one “look” from his lover, even in the “dusk and dark,” he will be motivated to take up the chase again. He argues that “no sooner” does one “old hope” die but a “new” hope inspires him and drives him to aim for the “self-same mark”—that of reclaiming his lover’s affection. In other words, even though he remains “ever / Removed!” from his lover, the strength of his affection causes him to imagine new sources of hope rather than admit permanent defeat.
Thus even though the speaker insists that “fate” pushes him to endlessly pursue his beloved, he’s perhaps more in control than he’s willing to admit: it is the speaker himself who imagines a new source of hope when the old hope falters, basically ensuring that he is never free of his infatuation. At the heart of the poem, then, is an understanding that deep desires can generate a kind of relentless hope that drives people to strive for their goals regardless of the likelihood of success. Whether this is romantic and noble or delusional and obsessive is left for the reader to decide.
Escape me?
Never—
Beloved!
The first line of "Life in a Love" establishes the central tension of the poem: the fact that the speaker's lover has "escaped" or left him. By presenting this line as a question, the speaker implies the presence of a conversational partner (who could be interpreted as either the lover or the reader) and creates dramatic tension.
This opening line is specifically an example of aporia, a poetic device that Browning uses throughout the poem—presenting doubt only to quickly bat it away. The speaker is aware of the potential futility of his chase but pushes on regardless. Indeed, in lines 2 and 3, the speaker answers his own question: he asserts that his "Beloved" could "never" leave him.
These lines are both extremely short and strongly end-stopped, closing with a question mark, dash, and exclamation point. The effect is a sharp, forceful opening to the poem that reflects the speaker's unwavering commitment to his cause.
While I am I, and you are you,
So long as the world contains us both,
Me the loving and you the loth,
While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
Unlock all 355 words of this analysis of Lines 4-7 of “Life in a Love,” and get the Line-by-Line Analysis for every poem we cover.
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Get LitCharts A+My life is a fault at last, I fear:
It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
But what if I fail of my purpose here?
It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,
And, baffled, get up and begin again,—
So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.
While, look but once from your farthest bound
At me so deep in the dust and dark,
No sooner the old hope goes to ground
Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark,
I shape me—
Ever
Removed!
Alliteration pops up here and there in the poem, adding music and emphasis to certain moments and linking thematic ideas. In line 6, for example, the shared /l/ sounds of "loving" and "loth" give a lilting rhythm to the line while also emphasizing the bond (in the speaker's eyes) between the "me" of the speaker and the "you" of the lover (who is "loth," or loathe, to love the speaker back).
Alliteration reappears in line 8, the quick repetition of /l/ and /f/ sounds again filling the poem's language with music and drama as the speaker laments his lovelorn state:
My life is a fault at last, I fear:
Elsewhere, alliteration draws readers' ears (and thus attention) to specific ideas and images. Take the hissing /s/ sounds of "scarce succeed" in line 10, which underscores the speaker's belief that "success" in his pursuit is hard to come by, or "scarce." The repetitive sounds of "straight to the self-same mark" in line 19, meanwhile, emphasize the narrow, obsessive nature of the speaker's pursuit. Finally, the thudding /d/ sounds of "deep in the dust and dark" in line 17 bring the image of the speaker wandering around in the heavy, oppressive darkness to life on the page.
Unlock all 215 words of this analysis of Aporia in “Life in a Love,” and get the poetic device analyses for every poem we cover.
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Get LitCharts A+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.
The "loathing" one. In other words, the speaker's beloved finds his presence deeply undesirable or unpleasant.
"Life in a Love" consists of 22 lines written in a single, long stanza. Excluding the first and final three lines, one might break this stanza up into four quatrains (a.k.a. four-line stanzas), based on the poem's rhyme scheme (that is, the poem follows a specific rhyme pattern throughout, but its rhyme sounds shift after every set of four lines).
The poem also has a distinct introduction and conclusion that closely mirror each other: the poem's first and final three lines are exactly the same, form-wise. This mirroring brings a sense of circularity to the poem, which, in turn, reflects the endless loop of hope and loss that drives the speaker onward.
"Life in a Love" is generally written in accentual meter. Most lines have four stressed beats, but where those stressed beats fall isn't all that regular; there are various numbers of unstressed beats between them.
Many of the poem's lines fall into an iambic rhythm (meaning they have an unstressed-stressed beat pattern). Line 4 follows an iambic beat, for example, with stresses falling on every second syllable:
While I | am I, | and you | are you,
But this pattern isn't very regular. Many lines feature anapests (unstressed-unstressed-stressed) or trochees (stressed-unstressed). Most of these lines still have four stressed beats, but they aren't in a steadily iambic pattern. Take line 6, which starts with a stressed beat ("Me") and might be scanned as follows (two trochees followed by two iambs):
Me the | loving | and you | the loth,
Line 17 features another variation, with an anapest for the third foot:
At me | so deep | in the dust | and dark,
The poem thus feels musical thanks to having a relatively stable number of stresses per line, but it doesn't feel overly strict or rigid.
And, of course, the first and final three lines of the poem diverge from this accentual meter altogether. This break emphasizes these lines, which bookend the poem.
This poem uses plenty of rhyme, but where those rhymes fall isn't always predictable. Setting aside the opening and closing three lines (which, as previously noted, bookend the poem and very different, form-wise, from the rest), the poem can be broken up into four four-line stanzas (a.k.a. quatrains), each of which introduces new rhyme sounds into the poem.
The first two of these quatrains (lines 4-11) both follow a sandwiched ABBA pattern (albeit with new rhyme sounds introduced in lines 8-11, technically making the rhyme scheme ABBA CDDC). The next two quatrains (lines 12-19) then follow an alternating pattern of ABAB (again, with new sounds introduced).
Altogether, then, accounting for all the different rhyme sounds, the middle of the poem's rhyme scheme looks like this:
ABBA CDDC EFEF GHGH
Meanwhile, lines 1-3 rhyme with lines 20-22. These rhymes are spaced across the span of the poem, creating a clear introduction and conclusion and also lending the poem a cyclical feel—like it ends where it began. The stark difference of these sections heightens the emotional impact of the words as well, which invoke the speaker's turmoil over the loss of his lover.
The speaker of the poem is anonymous, given no name, age, nor gender. That said, the fact that the poem appears within a book of poetry dedicated to Robert Browning's wife and the love of his life, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, means it's possible to read the speaker as a representation of the poet himself.
In any case, it's clear that the poem is written from one distinct, limited perspective: readers are only getting the speaker's side of things here. The speaker longs to be reunited with his lover, who has apparently initiated a separation. From the speaker's point of view, he cannot accept their estrangement so long as they're both living—and thus must pursue his beloved until he regains her affection.
The speaker is at once optimistic that he will achieve his goal ("Escape me? / Never—") and, paradoxically, filled with doubt that he will ever be successful. Ultimately, the speaker adopts a resigned attitude, insisting that it doesn't actually matter whether or not he believes he'll succeed; it's simply his destiny to seek out his beloved.
"Life in a Love" was written in 1855, at a time in which Browning was living in Florence with his wife, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The setting of the poem, in one sense, is the entire "world" in which both characters exist — the speaker makes it explicit that as long as they both live in this "world," the speaker's mission to reunite with his lover must continue.
However, in another sense the setting of the poem is not any one material place or time; rather, it is the relationship between the speaker and his lover. This is the environment in which the poet "falls" and "get's up," forever metaphorically "chasing" after his love.
"Life in a Love" appears in Browning's collection Men and Women, in which his complimentary poem "Love in a Life" was also published. In "Love in a Life," the speaker's aim is merely to encounter or "find" his lover, while in "Life in a Love," the speaker's beloved is actively eluding him. "Life in a Love" thus forms half of a dramatic monologue that Browning developed to explore the experience of finding and seeking love.
Browning rose to prominence in the mid-1800s, and his poetry reveals both the influence of the Romantic poets who preceded him and the Victorian era in general. The earlier Romantics, whose poetry evolved in part as a reaction to the Enlightenment's focus on science and reason and the industrial revolution, celebrated individuality, human emotion, and the overwhelming wonder of nature. The Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley had a particularly profound influence on the young Browning.
However, Browning's own poetry diverged from the Romantic tradition in its exploration of more practical, realistic themes—including the concerns of the working class and the relationship between science and society. In this way, Browning was firmly a part of the Victorian literary movement, alongside writers such as Thomas Hardy, the Bronte sisters, and Christina Rosetti.
With the publication of his poem Paracelsus at age 23, Browning achieved recognition and was lauded by contemporaries including Charles Dickens and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. He traveled abroad seeking inspiration for his lengthier poems, eventually settling down with his wife, the famous Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in Florence, Italy.
Browning also helped popularize the dramatic monologue form through his frequent use of first-person speakers who make their case to a listening reader (with his poem "My Last Duchess" being perhaps the most famous example). Writers and poets who were influenced by Browning and went on to experiment with the dramatic monologue form include W.B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Elliot.
Robert Browning wrote during the reign of Queen Victoria (who ruled England from 1831 to 1901), a time of massive scientific, societal, and religious upheavals. Considered a literary Golden Age, the Victorian era saw writers grappling with vast shifts in the religious, moral, and class structures of their world.
New ideas such as Darwin's theory of evolution challenged people's conception of their place in society, while the rise of dangerous factory work and economic disparity led to an increased focus on poverty, child labor, and the treatment of women. Browning's poetry was often written in response to the conversations of the day, and he explored topical subjects such as the relationship between art and morality and the conflict between materialism and altruism in his work. Yet, while he was interested in contemporary conversations, Browning also often set his poetry in the more distant past, such as in the Renaissance period, in order to avoid coming across as overly didactic to his modern audience.
Browning's "Two lives of love" — Read an article that explores Browning's conception of and interest in romantic love by comparing his two poems "Life in a Love" and "Love in a Life."
Browning's Biography — Learn more about Browning's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.
The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a live reading of "Life in a Love."
The Victorian Era — Learn more about the exciting era in which Browning lived and wrote.