The Last Ride Together as a dramatic monologue

"The Last Ride Together” as a famous dramatic monologue and written by Robert Browning.  The dramatic monologue is a form of poetry in which a person expresses his thought and feelings which are uppermost in his mind to another person who keeps silent. It is essentially a study of character of mental state of moral crisis, made from inside. It is predominantly psychological, analytical, meditative and argumentative. 

Dramatic monologue uses first person singular “I” which stands for a persona, different from the poet. In “The Last Ride Together”, frowning himself is not the speaker. The speaker of the poem is a lover who has been rejected by his beloved. 

The speaker in a dramatic monologue speaks to an implied audience that, while silent, remains clearly present in the scene. The speaker does not address any specific listener, rather musing aloud to him or herself. In this poem the speaker asks his beloved for one last ride and she agrees to one last ride together. Here the beloved seems to be the listener at the beginning of the poem but later on, who the listener is ambiguous.. 

The dramatic monologue deals with the critical moment of the speaker. In “The Last Ride Together” the critical situation is the lady’s rejection of the lover and the lover’s request  for a last ride together. Here the poet catches the rejected lover at the most critical moment of his life and makes him talk on the painful pleasure of the moment. Being rejected by his beloved, the lover is in a state of frustration and dejection. But he tries to philosophiser his failure and draws a consolation. So he prays to his beloved for a last ride together and the prayer is granted. 

The purpose of the monologue is not so much to make a statement about its declared subject matter, but to develop the character of the speaker. The lover speaks of beloved and makes him totally spiritualist. The lover feels that his riding is better than the fates of statesmen, soldiers, sculptors, musicians and so on, because - he has realistic ideal of life at least for a moment.

As a dramatic monologue, “The Last Ride Together” illustrates Browning’s philosophy of success and failure in life. In the poem he celebrates the supreme believes of partial fulfilment of his desire. As he is rejected by his beloved, he has failed in his love. This failure, to him, means success in the other world. Now, when he will die he will think of reuniting with his lover after death. The lover believes that he would have the highest bliss in heaven where he will get his . beloved. Since the lover is Browning’s mouthpiece, he expresses the - view of the poet: success in this life means failure in the life to come. The abrupt opening is very important for the dramatic and colloquial and dramatic vigour. The poem begins in the middle and the situation is suggested gradually. It gives dramatic vividness to the poem. Browning’s power of giving slight touches of realistic description is also in evidence. “All the world rushed by on either side” is a single line of the ride so vivid. 

“The Last Ride Together” is a lyrical dramatic monologue of Browning. It is a wonderful expression of his philosophy of life, love and his characteristic optimism.