“Rabbi Ben Ezra” was first published in 1864. It has
192 lines and is the clearest expression of Browning’s optimistic philosophy of
life. It is Browning’s clearest attempt to explain his philosophy or his
outlook on life, this Universe, God, and man’s relation to all this. It is a
dramatic monologue because only one man speaks. The speaker is Rabbi Ben Ezra
or Abraham Ibn Ezra, a twelfth-century Jewish scholar who was an actual person.
Whom he speaks to is not made clear. He just puts forth his idea of God, man, and the universe. He is the spokesman for Browning. Of course, Browning
generally says that his poems are objective and do not express any of his
opinions. But some views are repeated so often that we can take them as being
Browning’s own views.
The poem is a glorification of old age and has been
written from the standpoint of age-Old age is the best period of life and men
should look forward to it. It brings wisdom, knowledge, dignity, and a certain
resignation and acceptance of life. Youth is a period of doubt and rebellion.
Living for mere pleasure is foolish. In youth, man thinks pleasure is everything
and tries to drown himself in it. He does not realize that youth is a
preparation for old age which is the best period of life.
The experience we gather in our youth changes to
wisdom in old age because it is through mistakes that we learn. The knowledge
that there is a God and man is but a part of God’s plan comes much later. Man
should surrender himself to God and then he will realize that God has planned
man as a whole—youth and old age, body and soul. Just as youth lays the
foundation for age so also the body is no less important than the soul. The two
go together. The poem is also a glorification of failure. He underlines the fact
that it is aspiration and not achievement that counts. He may not have achieved
much according to the standards of the world, but in reality, his hopes wishes, and goals and the effort he makes to achieve them are what is important to Browning. Failure should not discourage us; in fact, it is better than
success because success makes us take things easy. We no longer work as hard
because we have got what we want. But failure makes us work that much harder,
so it is good.
Through the metaphor of the potter and the pitcher, Browning explains God’s plan for man. God is the potter who is shaping the clay (man) on the wheel of life. He is shaping man by giving him pain suffering and failure. All this is meant to strengthen his character so that he becomes a strong man. This is also his explanation for the imperfection we see around us. The world is imperfect because God has made it so to try man. Thus behind imperfect man and the imperfect world is the perfect God who has a plan. Man has only to submit to the plan to know his place in the scheme of things. Once the pitcher is shaped, it is ready for use by the Gods. The soul has been purified by suffering and now it is ready for its journey which comes after death.
No comments:
Post a Comment