Lyric Poem · Nature

The Twins

by Robert Browning

Reading room

1Grand rough old Martin Luther

2 Bloomed fables-flowers on furze,

3The better the uncouther:

4 Do roses stick like burrs?

5A beggar asked an alms

6 One day at an abbey-door,

7Said Luther; but, seized with qualms,

8 The abbot replied, "We're poor!"

9"Poor, who had plenty once,

10 When gifts fell thick as rain:

11But they give us nought, for the nonce,

12 And now should we give again?"

13Then the beggar, "See your sins!

14 Of old, unless I err,

15Ye had brothers for inmates, twins,

16 Date and Dabitur.

17"While Date was in good case

18 Dabitur flourished too:

19For Dabitur's lenten face

20 No wonder if Date rue.

21"Would ye retrieve the one?

22 Try and make plump the other!

23When Date's penance is done,

24 Dabitur helps his brother.

25"Only, beware relapse!"

26 The Abbot hung his head.

27This beggar might be perhaps

28 An angel, Luther said.

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Tip: click any line number to copy a ready-made citation for that line.

“The Twins” by Robert Browning — quilloak.com/poems/the-twins

Quick facts

Poem: The Twins
Poet: Robert Browning
Length: 28 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Peace

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 28 lines · 7 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 6-7 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake

Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Robert Browning1812–1889
Source record: PoetryDBThe Twins by robert-browning, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 2ff273c3cda7feec…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policy Report a text or rights issue

Lyric Poem Nature Peace

Keep reading

She Walks in Beauty

Lord Byron · 1814

She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that's best of dark and bright

18 lines · lyric

Love's Philosophy

Percy Bysshe Shelley · 1819

The fountains mingle with the riverAnd the rivers with the ocean,The winds of heaven mix for ever

16 lines · lyric

When You Are Old

W. B. Yeats · 1893

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

12 lines · lyric

More nature poems →