" says Mr. Chesterton, "Browning discovered the one thing that he
could really do better than any one else--the dramatic lyric. The form
is absolutely original; he had discovered a new field of poetry, and in
the center of that field he had found himself." The form is new, but it
obeys the fundamental law of lyric poetry, and so in our study belongs
to this chapter. The new element which the word "dramatic" suggests
makes a new and a somewhat broader demand upon the interpreter;
therefore I have chosen this group of _Dramatic Lyrics_ from Browning as
the material for your final study of this form:

MY STAR

All that I know
Of a certain star
Is, it can throw
(Like the angled spar)
Now a dart of red,
Now a dart of blue;
Till my friends have said
They would fain see, too,
My star that dartles the red and the blue!
Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs furled:
They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.
What matter to me if their star is a world?
Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.

CAVALIER TUNES

MARCHING ALONG

Kentish Sir Byng stood for his King,
Bidding the crop-headed Parliament swing.
And, pressing a troop unable to stoop
And see the rogues flourish and honest folk droop,
Marched them along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song.

God for King Charles! Pym and such carles
To the Devil that prompts 'em their treasonous parles!
Cavaliers, up! Lips from the cup,
Hands from the pasty, nor bite take nor sup
Till you're--
_(Chorus) Marching along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song._

Hampden to hell, and his obsequies' knell
Serve Hazelrig, Fiennes, and young Harry as well!
England, good cheer! Rupert is near!
Kentish and loyalists, keep we not here,
_(Chorus) Marching along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song?_

Then, God for King Charles! Pym and his snarls
To the Devil that pricks on such pestilent carles!
Hold by the right, you double your might;
So, onward to Nottingham, fresh for the fight.
_(Chorus) March we along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song!_

GARDEN FANCIES

THE FLOWER'S NAME

Here's the garden she walked across,