“The Lost Leader” Introduction

• Read the full text of “The Lost Leader”

“The Lost Leader” Summary

“The Lost Leader” Themes

• 

  The Betrayal of Ideals

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.
• 

  Persistence Through Disappointment

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Lost Leader”

• Lines 1-4

  Just for a handful of silver he left us,
  Just for a riband to stick in his coat—
  Found the one gift of which fortune bereft us,
  Lost all the others she lets us devote;

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 5-8

  They, with the gold to give, doled him out silver,
  So much was theirs who so little allowed:
  How all our copper had gone for his service!
  Rags—were they purple, his heart had been proud!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 9-12

  We that had loved him so, followed him, honoured him,
  Lived in his mild and magnificent eye,
  Learned his great language, caught his clear accents,
  Made him our pattern to live and to die!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 13-16

  Shakespeare was of us, Milton was for us,
  Burns, Shelley, were with us,—they watch from their graves!
  He alone breaks from the van and the freemen,
  —He alone sinks to the rear and the slaves!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 17-20

  We shall march prospering,—not thro' his presence;
  Songs may inspirit us,—not from his lyre;
  Deeds will be done,—while he boasts his quiescence,
  Still bidding crouch whom the rest bade aspire:

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 21-24

  Blot out his name, then, record one lost soul more,
  One task more declined, one more footpath untrod,
  One more devils'-triumph and sorrow for angels,
  One wrong more to man, one more insult to God!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 25-28

  Life's night begins: let him never come back to us!
  There would be doubt, hesitation and pain,
  Forced praise on our part—the glimmer of twilight,
  Never glad confident morning again!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 29-32

  Best fight on well, for we taught him—strike gallantly,
  Menace our heart ere we master his own;
  Then let him receive the new knowledge and wait us,
  Pardoned in heaven, the first by the throne!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“The Lost Leader” Symbols

• 

  Silver, Gold, and Copper

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.
• 

  Morning and Night

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“The Lost Leader” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Hyperbole

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Antithesis

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“The Lost Leader” 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.

• Riband
• Fortune
• Bereft
• Devote
• Doled
• Service
• Accents
• Pattern
• Van
• Freemen
• Slaves
• Prospering
• Inspirit
• Lyre
• Quiescence
• Bidding/Bade
• Crouch
• Blot
• Untrod
• Devils'-triumph
• Gallantly
• Ere
• Master
• Wait

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Lost Leader”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Lost Leader” Speaker

“The Lost Leader” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Lost Leader”

More “The Lost Leader” Resources

• External Resources

  • Wordsworth's Politics — More on William Wordsworth's shifting political views, as lamented in "The Lost Leader."

  • More Browning Resources — Browse more Browning-related media at the Internet Archive.

  • A Source for the Poem — Read "The Warning," a political poem by William Wordsworth that appears to have motivated Browning's attack.

  • The Poem's Target — A brief biography of the poem's target, William Wordsworth, with context on the change in his political views.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of "The Lost Leader."

  • About the Poet — More on Robert Browning's life and work, via the Poetry Foundation.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Browning

  • A Face

  • A Light Woman

  • Among the Rocks

  • A Toccata of Galuppi's

  • A Woman's Last Word

  • 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 Mistress

  • The Patriot

  • The Pied Piper of Hamelin

  • Women and Roses