Ben Ezra was an eminent Jewish Rabbi of the Middle Ages. His
_Commentaries_ on the books of the Old Testament are of great value. Mr.
A. J. Campbell, who has studied Browning's poem in connection with the
writings of the real Rabbi Ben Ezra, thinks that the distinctive
features of the Rabbi of the poem, and the philosophy ascribed to him,
were drawn from the works of the historical Rabbi, the keynote of whose
teaching was that the essential life of man is the life of the soul, and
that age is more important than youth. (Berdoe, _Browning Cyclopædia_.
Cf. also Berdoe, _Browning's Message to His Times_, pp. 157-172.)
1. _Grow old along with me._ Cf. _Saul_, lines 161-162. See Matthew
Arnold's "'Tis time to grow old" for a beautiful statement of the
pessimistic attitude toward old age.
7-15. It would be folly, says the Rabbi, to object to the unreasoning
ambitions, the fluctuations of desire, the hopes and fears of youth. In
fact (ll. 16-30), he counts these very aspirations toward the
impossible, this very state of mental and spiritual unrest and doubt, a
proof of the spark of divinity which separates men from beasts and
allies them to God. It is a characteristic Browning doctrine that
conflict, struggle, the pangs and throes of learning, are the stimuli
through which character develops.
40-42. Cf. _Saul_, l. 295.
49-72. In lines 43-48 the Rabbi had urged the subservience of the body
to the soul, but in these lines he shows that the life of the flesh is
not to be underestimated, that ideal progress comes from a just alliance
Of the soul and the body. See Tennyson's "St. Simeon Stylites" for an
account of the ascetic ideal in its lowest form.
81. _Adventure brave and new._ In "Prospice" death is reckoned an
adversary to be courageously met and overcome. Here the Rabbi is
represented as fearless and unperplexed as he contemplates the new life
he will lead after death. In both poems we find unquestioning belief in
an active and progressive and happy life after death.
85. _Youth ended, I shall try_, etc. Compare Tennyson's "By an
Evolutionist."
87. _Leave the fire ashes._ In this figure the "fire" stands for the
conflicts of life, the "gold" for whatever has proved of permanent
worth, and the "ashes" for whatever has failed to stand the test of time
and experience.
92. _A certain moment._ The moment between the fading of the sunset
glory and the shutting down of evening darkness is here selected as the
moment in which to appraise the work of the day. In the application of
the simile to the life of man (lines 97-102) the "moment" apparently
refers to old age when man has leisure and wisdom to appraise the Past.
102. _The Future._ The life of his "adventure brave and new" after
death.
109-111. In "Old Pictures in Florence" Browning applies this idea to the
development of art. As soon as men were content to repose in the
perfection of Greek art (the thing "found made") stagnation ensued; the
new life of art came when men strove for something new and original,
even though their first attempts were crude ("acts uncouth").
120. _Nor let thee feel alone._ The solitude of age gives a chance for
unhampered thought.
133-150. One of the things he has learned is that any judgment to be
fair must take into account instincts, efforts, desires, as well as
accomplishment.
151-186. This metaphor of the wheel is found in _Isaiah_ lxiv, 8;
_Jeremiah_ xviii, 2-6; _Romans_ ix, 21. Throughout this metaphor as
Browning uses it, man seems to be "passive clay" in the hands of the
potter, and under the power of the "machinery" the potter uses to give
the soul its bent. The tone of the whole poem is, however, one of
strenuous endeavor. Ardor, effort, progress, are the keynotes of life
from youth to age. But life is finally counted a divine training for the
service of God, and in this training the pious Rabbi sees joined the
will of man and the care and guidance of God.