An empty gold birdcage has its door open while a pale feather drifts beside it against a deep red background.

Original artwork, not a still

Sordello · 1840

Robert Browning

Deeds let escape are never to be done.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Deeds allowed to slip away, the line says, can never be carried out afterward. It treats action as bound to its moment: an opportunity not seized while it is present is lost for good, so hesitation amounts to a kind of permanent undoing.

Context reviewed

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