The source of the story is an epigram given in Mackail's _Select
Epigrams from Greek Anthology_. It is one of the happiest pieces of
Browning's lighter work.
65. =Lotte=, or Charlotte. A character in Goethe's _Sorrows of
Werther_, said to be drawn from the heroine of one of Goethe's
earlier love-affairs.
Who are the speaker and the one addressed? Whom does the cicada of the
tale symbolize? Whom the singer helped by the cicada? What application
is made of the story? What serious meanings and feelings underlie the
tone of raillery? What things mark the light and humorous tone of the
speaker? Point out the harmony between style and theme.