Treasure Trove The patriot
Answers
The Patriot is Robert Browning’s one of the famous dramatic monologues. Just as in the poems, My Last Duchess or The Last Ride Together in this poem the poet uses a single speaker. In this poem The Patriot, Browning presents a patriot to talks about the change of his fortune within a single year.
As the poem begins, the speaker recalls his memories of this very day just one year ago. Even he says that he was welcomed victoriously by his countrymen. The citizens of his country decorated the path with roses and myrtles to welcome him. In fact, they crowded on the roofs of the houses to see the speaker for once. And also the churches sway their flags to welcome the patriot.
In the second stanza, the speaker continues that even that day the air was filled with cheerful sounds of bells. Moreover, he describes that thousands of people crowded against the old walls of the houses. They even cheered and cried out for their hero that is, the speaker. So, the port remembers that he had even promised them to bring the sun for them. Here, the poet metaphorically uses the sun to denote that the speaker was even ready to do any insuperable deed for his countrymen.
But in the third stanza, the speaker admits that he was fool enough to try to achieve beyond his limit. In fact, the praises of the countrymen made him too confident to become over-ambitious. Here Browning metaphorically alludes to mythical Icarus. Icarus received his downfall when he became too ambitious to fly towards the sun with his wax wings. Similarly, just like Icarus, the speaker is going to face his downfall which he now realizes after a year.
Hence, now the speaker shows the difference in the attitude of the countrymen towards him after a year. He tells that now there is no one on the roofs of the houses along the road to welcome him. However, he can see a few people sitting beside the windows of the houses, they are actually diseased and weak. So, they are not there for the speaker. Rather, the speaker even ironically says now all the people have gathered near the Shambles’ Gate. Actually, the speaker is being taken to the Shambles’ Gate for executing him. So, all the citizens, who once welcomed him as a patriot, now wait by the scaffold the see the speaker’s execution.
In addition to this, the speaker describes his present pathetic plight. He says people are dragging him vigorously. Even both his wrists are bleeding due to the rope that ties them. Also, he feels that someone from the crowd throws a stone towards him and his forehead starts bleeding. He regrets that a year’s misdeed has erased all the memories of his good deeds from the minds of the common people.
So, in the concluding stanza, he tries to gather some hope in such a painful state. He says that he has played his role and so, now he has to leave.