“The Laboratory” Introduction

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“The Laboratory” Summary

“The Laboratory” Themes

• 

  The Terrible Power of Jealousy

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• 

  Sexism and Women's Oppression

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• 

  The Power and Danger of Scientific Knowledge

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Laboratory”

• Lines 1-4

  Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,
  May gaze thro’ these faint smokes curling whitely,
  As thou pliest thy trade in this devil’s-smithy—
  Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  He is with her, and they know that I know
  Where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow
  While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear
  Empty church, to pray God in, for them!—I am here.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,
  Pound at thy powder,—I am not in haste!
  Better sit thus and observe thy strange things,
  Than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  That in the mortar—you call it a gum?
  Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!
  And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
  Sure to taste sweetly,—is that poison too?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,
  What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!
  To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,
  A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  Soon, at the King’s, a mere lozenge to give
  And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!
  But to light a pastile, and Elise, with her head
  And her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  Quick—is it finished? The colour’s too grim!
  Why not soft like the phial’s, enticing and dim?
  Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it and stir,
  And try it and taste, ere she fix and prefer!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  What a drop! She’s not little, no minion like me—
  That’s why she ensnared him: this never will free
  The soul from those masculine eyes,—say, “no!”
  To that pulse’s magnificent come-and-go.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 33-36

  For only last night, as they whispered, I brought
  My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought
  Could I keep them one half minute fixed, she would fall,
  Shrivelled; she fell not; yet this does it all!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 37-40

  Not that I bid you spare her the pain!
  Let death be felt and the proof remain;
  Brand, burn up, bite into its grace—
  He is sure to remember her dying face!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 41-44

  Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay, be not morose;
  It kills her, and this prevents seeing it close:
  The delicate droplet, my whole fortune’s fee—
  If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 45-48

  Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your fill,
  You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will!
  But brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings
  Ere I know it—next moment I dance at the King’s!

  

  

  

  

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“The Laboratory” Symbols

• 

  Poison

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“The Laboratory” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Irony

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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“The Laboratory” 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.

• Thy, Thou, Thee
• Thro'
• As thou pliest thy trade
• Devil's-smithy
• Prithee
• Drear
• The King's
• Mortar
• Gum
• The brave tree whence such gold oozings come
• Yonder soft phial
• A casket, a signet, a fan-mount, a filigree-basket
• Lozenge
• Pastile
• Ere she fix and prefer
• Minion
• Ensnared
• Brand
• Nay, be not morose
• Gorge
• Lest
• Ere

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Laboratory”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Laboratory” Speaker

“The Laboratory” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Laboratory”

More “The Laboratory” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a dramatic reading of the poem.

  • Browing at the Victorian Web — Find a wealth of resources on Browning's life and work at the Victorian Web research site.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn about Browning's life and times via the Poetry Foundation.

  • The Poem Illustrated — See Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painted interpretation of the poem.

  • The Poem's Inspiration — Learn about the Marquise de Brinvilliers, one of the real-life poisoners upon whom this poem was based.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Browning

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  • Epilogue

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  • 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 Last Ride Together

  • The Lost Leader

  • The Lost Mistress

  • The Patriot

  • The Pied Piper of Hamelin

  • Women and Roses