Porphyria's Lover

The earliest of Browning's poems to focus on aberrant psychology is Porphyria's Lover a brief theatrical monologue. In the poem a man uses Porphyria's hair to strangle her. The lover of Porphyria continues by mentioning the corpse's blue eyes and golden hair as well as the wonderful happiness the murder has given him. He chokes her three times while winding her hair around her throat but she never cries out. The rhyme pattern for the poem is A B A B B with the final repeat bringing each stanza to a heavy rest. English poet and dramatist Robert Browning (1812–1889) is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era for his mastery of dramatic verse particularly the dramatic monologue.