the reader, are in Roland’s mind with him, so tangible is his pain.The use of rhyming (abbaab) stanzas, resembling a ballad, evokes the traditional form of ‘heroic epic‘ poem. “Childe Roland” has many of the components of a heroic epic, yet rends asunder its emotive impact. Browning even subverts the heroic subject matter- the archetypal trusty steed is a grotesque and unhealthy “devil’s stud”. True to the structure of the heroic epic, Roland does arrive at the Dark Tower and make his stand in the end, and this in a way signifies his redemption and fulfils the Browning ideal that life can only truly be lived in the endeavour to encompass a task that is beyond one’s powers. That failure is predestined and yet, paradoxically, proves to be the greatest success, in that man fully tests, extends, and ultimately transcends his limitations in the excitement of the struggle. As Andrea del Sarto puts it: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, / Or what’s a heaven for?“ However, Roland is haunted by the question that Browning’s other heroes never ask; “should I be fit?“Childe Roland indirectly contemplates the worthiness of the endeavor, when weighed against his survival. In his friends, he finds those who succumbed to the temptation of immediate gratification. He decides that the choice has already been made as to his fate, and that he must not turn away from it. Thus, as the poem concludes, despite the ghosts of all of those that he has known who have fought and lost that he can see, he calls out the phrase which defines the purpose of his training, and of his life: “Childe Rolande to the Dark Tower came.” Whether he dies or not has no relevance, and, fittingly, that information remains ommitted, and because of this omission the conclusion to the poem avoids entirely debunking the notion of the heroic epic. While Browning doe...
