Pan’s character in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “A Musical Instrument” has a much correlation with that of the Greek god Pan. Not just they had the same name but they both had several characteristics like each other too. Their physical appearance, nature, and characteristic were very similar, and they even had a great love for music too. This mythological figure got its revival further in the 1880s where he continued to be the god of forest, nature, and woods. He is depicted as the symbol of energy, sometimes frightening and possessing a great force of entertaining nature.
Since Pan ruled over the shepherds, hunters and in rural areas, his worship is basically focused on nature and its species. He was associated with the deities of the forest and he dwelled with them in the woods. Because of his inclination and association with forest and nature, his structure was that of a man and an animal in combination. His bottom half of the body was that of a goat and the upper half was like a man. It is often said that he possessed a horn on his head and was also considered unattractive. Pan is considered as the oldest god in the Greek mythology. He is associated with nature, pasturelands and wooded areas from which his name is derived. Being the god of the rustics, he was not worshipped in the temples. Pan’s parentage and his birth are also uncertain about which several stories have been built with ages. Pan had enormous power and strength. He was able to run long distances without any stoppage and can transform any object into any other object. He is also considered shrewd with a good sense of humor. He had an intense relationship with the musical instruments and the music. He is basically associated with flute. There are many stories about him and his relationship with music.
The poem starts with the focus on the destruction which the god of the forest, Pan, has been spreading across. Being the deity of the forest himself, he creates a form of turbulence all around the river and the forest. They both ran into panic and bewilderment in uncertain and irrational situations. The significance of the river is seen in the poem too which reflects the ups and downs. The role of the river undergoes in the lives of both. There is a story associated with the life of the Greek god Pan states that there was a beautiful wood nymph named Syrinx who turned into a river with the help of her fellow goddess to hide from Pan. Pan made a flute out of the river reeds to make a musical instrument which later came to know as The Pan Flute. Pan’s image is often depicted with this instrument. The musical instrument flute had a great role to play in both the character Pan and in the Greek god Pan’s life.
The poem focuses on the subject that though there are beauty and love all around, still there lies pain and destruction in the back. Though the character Pan possessed the love for nature and animals still sometimes become a source of destruction when it ran into a panic. According to a story, Pan once helped his friend to overcome a terrible situation by crying out loud which made the enemy flee off. This story focuses on “panic,” the uncontrolled fear which leads one into irrational behavior. Irrespective of being a God, a human or an animal we all possess a power to create beauty and destructive both. At times, we even don’t realize that which of our activity will create what effect on other’s mind.
The last stanza of the poem says:
“Yet half a beast is the great god Pan,”
This line sums up the motive and thought both the Greek God Pan and the poet Browning’s thoughts through the poem. Though being a human one has another animal side hidden and the same goes vice versa. Even an animal possesses a human side of it. Here the poet has highlighted animals’ nature to that of being fierce, harmful and causing destruction and the nature of human being of being a lover of music, romance, and beauty. However, this forms a conclusion that every organism irrespective of being a god, a human or an animal has two sides each of having a positive and a negative attitude. None can exist possessing only a quality. If there is pessimism, optimism will too exist.