124. =Was I= (whom) =the world arraigned=. Browning frequently omits
the relative.
139-144. Compare lines 36-41. Note here and elsewhere in this poem the
frequent repetition, and variation of the same idea.
151. =Potter's wheel=. The figure of the _Potter's wheel_ is
frequent in Oriental literature. See Isaiah lxiv. 8, and Jeremiah
xviii, 2-6; see also Fitzgerald's _Rubaiyat_, stanzas xxxvii,
xxxviii, lxxxii-xc.
169-171. In the period of youth.
172-174. In old age.
What cares agitate youth? Why is it better so? Wherein does man
partake of the nature of God? What plea is made for the "value and
significance of flesh"? Show how Browning denies the doctrine of
asceticism. What is meant by "the whole design," line 56? Why does
Rabbi Ben Ezra pause at the threshold of old age? What has youth
achieved? What advantage has old age? What are its pleasures? Its
employments? Explain the figure in lines 91-5. By what are the man and
his work to be judged? Compare the use of the figure of the Potter's
wheel with that in the Old Testament. What has Browning added? Point
out the element of optimism in the poem. How does its view of old age
differ from the pagan view? See Browning's _Cleon_.