The Laboratory Robert Browning 1845

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The LaboratoryRobert Browning 1845
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Taking pleasure in watching this take place.
Apothecary seen here as creator of evil
ANCIEN REGIME Now that I, tying thy glass mask
tightly,May gaze thro' these faint smokes
curling whitely,As thou pliest thy trade in this
devil's-smithy-Which is the poison to poison
her, prithee?
Question marks used throughout highlight her keen
interest in the production of the poison.
Alliteration draws attention to intended violence.
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They think she is wasting away in grief, not
planning revenge.
Her lover has left her for another woman she
uses a pronoun rather than naming him.
Repetition of they highlights her jealousy.
He is with her and they know that I knowWhere
they are, what they do they believe my tears
flowWhile they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to
the drearEmpty church, to pray God in, for them!
-- I am here.
Exclamation marks highlight her malicious
laughter, excitement and pleasure in the
preparation of murder.
No refuge or consolation in religion
4
She will wait for as long as it takes to exact
her perfect revenge .
Powerful verbs and alliteration foreshadow the
violence that is to come .

• Grind away, moisten and mash up thy
  paste,Pound at thy powder, -- I am not in
  haste!Better sit thus, and observe thy strange
  things,Than go where men wait me and dance at
  the King's.

Implies a loss of femininity she would rather
watch poison prepared than dance at court.
5
Punctuation continues to emphasise how keen she
is to learn about the poison.

• That in the mortar -- you call it a
  gum?Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings
  come!And yonder soft phial, the exquisite
  blue,Sure to taste sweetly, -- is that poison
  too?

Rich and vivid imagery signifies great pleasure.
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Alliteration highlights her increasing desire and
greed.

• 
  
• Had I but all of them, thee and thy
  treasures,What a wild crowd of invisible
  pleasures!To carry pure death in an earring, a
  casket,A signet, a fan-mount, a
  filligree-basket!

signet ring fan-mount fan
holder filligree delicate lace
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Punctuation again highlighting her excitement at
the thought of death.
Though she never names her lover, here she names
other women she could easily murder.

• 
  
• Soon, at the King's, a mere lozenge to give
• And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to
  live!
• But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her head
• And her breast and her arms and her hands, should
  drop dead!

8
Getting very excited said at the start of the
poem that she could wait but desire for revenge
taking over now.
Adjectives emphasising beauty as in fourth
stanza. She wants the poison to be beautiful, for
the victim to enjoy it.

• 
  
• Quick - is it finished? The colour's too
  grim!Why not soft like the phial's, enticing and
  dim?Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it
  and stir,And try it and taste, ere she fix and
  prefer!

9
Insulting the victim is a far larger lady than
she is and will need more than a drop of poison
to kill her.
Verb implies a trap. Perhaps easier to believe
that her lover was stolen away than that he chose
to leave.

• 
  
• What a drop! She's not little, no minion like
  me-That's why she ensnared him this never will
  freeThe soul from those masculine eyes, - say,
  'no!'To that pulse's magnificent come-and-go.

Imagines the heartbeat stopping.
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Like the repetition of the pronoun they in
second stanza shows she is obsessed with the
idea of them together and here describes spying
on them.
Feels so much hatred she imagines killing her
just by looking at her.

• 
  
• For only last night, as they whispered, I
  broughtMy own eyes to bear on her so, that I
  thoughtCould I keep them one half minute fixed,
  she would fall,Shrivelled she fell not yet
  this does it all!

Poison much more effective than an evil stare.
11
As before, exclamation mark highlights her
obvious pleasure in inflicting suffering as she
takes revenge.
Alliteration emphasises the pain her victim will
face.

• 
  
• Not that I bid you spare her the pain!Let
  death be felt and the proof remainBrand, burn
  up, bite into its grace-
• He is sure to remember her dying face!

Again use of pronoun rather than his name.
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• Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay, be not morose
• It kills her, and this prevents seeing it close
• The delicate droplet, my whole fortune's fee-
• If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?

Imperative verb (command) signifies her powerful
character.
She is prepared to pay anything for revenge.
Might the deed backfire?
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• Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your
  fill,
• You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you
  will!
• But brush this dust off me, lest horror it
  brings
• Ere I know it - next moment I dance at the
  King's!

Alliteration emphasises rich imagery and
symbolises the greed of both of them.
Only time she appears at all interested in
passion made grotesque by image of old man.
Change in thought, signals a goodbye as she
dashes off. Very determined ending, reader left
imagining her poisoning the mistress.
Assonance emphasises the horror of the poison.