Pippa Passes

Pippa Passes is a verse drama by Robert Browning. It was published in 1841 as the first volume of his Bells and Pomegranates series, in a very inexpensive two-column edition for sixpence and next republished in Poems in 1848, which received much more critical attention. It was dedicated to Thomas Noon Talfourd, who had recently attained fame as the author of the tragedy Ion.

The author described the work as "the first of a series of dramatic pieces." A young, blameless silk-winding girl is wandering innocently through the environs of Asolo, in her mind attributing kindness and virtue to the people she passes. She sings as she goes, her song influencing others to act for the good – or, at the least, reminding them of the existence of a moral order. Alexandra Leighton (Mrs Sutherland Orr) described the moment of inspiration:

This theme followed with great naturalness from Sordello (1840), in which the role in life of poets was analysed.

The work caused some controversy when it was first published, due to the matter-of-fact portrayals of many of the area's more disreputable characters – notably the adulterous Ottima – and for its frankness on sexual matters. In 1849, a writer in The English Review complained:

Despite this, the most famous passage in the poem is charming in its innocence:

although the timing of this song renders it deeply ironic.

Pippa's song influences Luigi to leave that night for Vienna, preserving him from the police. But does he give up his plan to assassinate the Austrian official? In 1848, a reviewer for Sharpe's London Magazine chided Browning for failing to clarify:

However, textual evidence points to a confirmation of his purpose, and Browning's republican sympathies may have leaned in that direction. Percy Bysshe Shelley had written verses in praise of Charlotte Corday (a figure who was also admired by other Early Romantics, even Jean Paul), and a few lines in the poem "De Gustibus——" (1855) are suggestive:

The play is a closet drama and many of its actions are told through the characters' speech rather than through stage directions. One consequence of this is the actions of Sebald and Ottima after they hear Pippa's song has been the subject of disagreement. Most critics have seen it simply as a parting on hostile terms, but others have given their last lines a more sinister interpretation.

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