An Indian dancing-girl, to whom Browning ascribes the
skill of a magician.

The poem celebrates the transforming and life-giving power of
affection. Note the abrupt and excited manner of utterance, and how
the speaker begins in the midst of things. He has already told
his story once, when the poem opens. Note also the parallelism of
structure, as in _Misconceptions_, the climax in each stanza, and
the echo in the last line of each. Tell the story in the common order
of prose narrative.

APPARITIONS. (PAGE 49.)

Study the development of the idea in the same manner as in
_Misconceptions_ and _Natural Magic_. Note the felicity of
imagery and diction.

A WALL. (PAGE 50.)

The clew to the meaning is to be sought in the last two stanzas. This
is one of the best examples of Browning's "assertion of the soul in
song."

CONFESSIONS. (PAGE 51.)

First construct the scene of the poem. What has the priest said? What
is the sick man's answer? What evidence is there that his imagination
is struggling to recall the old memory? What view of life does the
priest offer, and he reject? Does Browning indicate his preference for
either view, or tell the story impartially?

A WOMAN'S LAST WORD. (PAGE 53.)

What key to the situation in the first line? Who are the speaker and
the one addressed? What mood and feeling are in control? Comment upon
the condensation of the thought and the movement of the verse.

A PRETTY WOMAN. (PAGE 55.)

25-27. Compare Emerson's lines in _The Rhodora:_--

"If eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for being."

To what things is the "Pretty Woman" compared? Of what use is she? How
is she to be judged?

YOUTH AND ART. (PAGE 58.)

8. =Gibson, John= (1790-1866). A famous sculptor.

12. =Grisi, Giulia=. A celebrated singer (1811-1869).

18. In allusion to the asceticism of the Hindoo religious devotees.

58. =bals-pares=. Fancy-dress balls.

The poem is half-humorous, half-serious. The speaker, in her imaginary
conversation, gives her own history and that of the man she thinks she
might have loved. The story is on the "Maud Muller" motive, but with
less of sentimentality. The setting suggests the life of art students
in Paris, or in some Italian city. The poem is a plea for the freedom
of the individuality of a soul against the restrictions imposed by
conventional standards of value. Its touches of humor, of human
nature, and its summary of two