Porphyria's Lover

“Porphyria’s Lover,” written by English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), was first published as “Porphyria” in the January 1836 issue of Monthly Depository. It went relatively unnoticed until it was republished in 1842, in the third volume of a series of 12 pamphlets titled Bells and Pomegranates. This volume was titled Dramatic Lyrics and featured several of Browning’s dramatic monologues. “Porphyria’s Lover” details the troubling murder of a young woman named Porphyria told from the point of view of her clandestine lover. While not overly popular at the time of its initial publication, it later helped solidify Browning’s reputation as a master of the dramatic monologue, a poem in which a fictional speaker (or persona) addresses an unseen listener. Its full title, “Porphyria’s Lover,” was first given in 1863. Publicly ridiculed for work in his early career, Browning became renowned for his ability to craft such monologues. These dramatic lyrics, along with his epic poem The Ring and the Book (1868-1869), later made him one of the preeminent poets of the Victorian era. Today, as the first known dramatic monologue that Browning published, “Porphyria’s Lover” is one of the poet’s most well-known poems.