XXVII explained

What happens

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Loss

  Lorenzo's love for Isabel is contrasted with the brothers' murderous intent, highlighting the tragic loss of love.

• Mortality and the Sublime

  The serene description of the forest contrasts with the impending violence, evoking the sublime nature of death.

Characters to notice

• Lorenzo

  Lorenzo is the murdered man, described as flush with love even in death.

• Isabel

  Isabel is not directly present but is the implied cause of the brothers' murderous intent.

Key passages

• “So the two brothers and their murder’d man Rode past fair Florence, to where Arno’s stream Gurgles through straighten’d banks, and still doth fan Itself with dancing bulrush, and the bream Keeps head against the freshets.”

  The two brothers and the man they murdered rode past beautiful Florence to where the Arno River flows through narrow banks, rustling among bulrushes, and fish swim against the current.

  This sets the scene for the journey to the forest where the murder will take place.

• “Sick and wan The brothers’ faces in the ford did seem, Lorenzo’s flush with love.”

  The brothers' faces appeared pale and sickly in the river crossing, while Lorenzo's face was still flushed with love.

  The contrast between the brothers' guilt and Lorenzo's innocence is emphasized.

• “They pass’d the water Into a forest quiet for the slaughter.”

  They crossed the river and entered a forest that was quiet, as if waiting for the killing.

  The forest's stillness foreshadows the violence to come.