Robert Browning's Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came Robert Browning's "Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a poem about torture. Whether Roland is actually in Hell or simply trapped in the madness of his own mind, his own failure and how he wasted his life will continue to haunt him for all eternity. The images throughout the poem show a completely desperate attitude, and several bitter ironies that he cannot escape plague him throughout his search. The title "Childe" implies an untested knight, but Roland is already tired at the beginning of the poem. Reliving his failure, Roland has no reason to have positive thoughts. Everything he sees is negative and ugly. The grass "[grows] sparse as hair in leprosy" and the oak "is gaping at death." The way he sees Nature is almost puritanical. He speaks testily to him, saying he is waiting for Judgment Day. For him the land is scarce and dead because it is punished, just like him. Even the river seems to have a life of its own when he describes it. First, make sure that the...