Which poem contains the line, "If hate killed men, Brother Lawrence, God's blood, would not mine kill you!"?

Prepare for the ETS Major Field Test in British Literature. Study with flashcards and multiple choice questions, each question includes hints and explanations. Boost your confidence for exam day!

The line "If hate killed men, Brother Lawrence, God's blood, would not mine kill you!" comes from Robert Browning's poem "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister." This work is characterized by its dramatic monologue style, featuring a speaker who expresses intense emotions, particularly feelings of jealousy and animosity towards Brother Lawrence, a character representing a rival monk.

In this context, the speaker's strong feelings of hatred towards Brother Lawrence are vividly illustrated through the hyperbolic suggestion that his hate could indeed kill. This line encapsulates the inner turmoil and consuming nature of the speaker's emotions, typical of Browning's exploration of the human psyche. The use of religious language, such as "God's blood," also serves to heighten the intensity of the speaker's feelings and demonstrates the conflict between piety and personal vendetta.

The other options, while containing respected poetic lines, do not match the specific quote. Each of those poems possesses its own themes and stylistic elements, which make them significant in their own right, but they do not include this particular expression of moral and emotional conflict found in "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister."

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