We see a mental agony before we know its substantial cause; and we only see the cause as reflected in it "Ned Bratts," again, conveys in its first lines the sensation of a tremendously hot day in which Nature seems to reel in a kind of riotous stupefaction; and the grotesque tragedy on which the Idyl turns, becomes a matter of course.
"A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.)"
Mrs. Sutherland Orr
This death followed naturally on the excessive physical strain; but Mr. Browning has used it as a connecting link between the historic and the imaginary parts of the Idyl.
"A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.)"
Mrs. Sutherland Orr
The term "Venus," as employed in the postscript to the Idyl, signified in Roman phraseology, the highest throw of the dice.
"A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.)"
Mrs. Sutherland Orr