Narcissus was on of the most stunning and attractive people around. In Greek mythology, he captured the hearts of women and goddesses alike. However, after shunning one to many, a curse was bestowed upon Narcissus in which he began to love himself. Day and night he used to stare at himself in the lake constantly idolizing the image that peered back at him. Such vanity eventually led to his demise. The bishop in Robert Browning's "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at St. Praxed's Church" is very similar to Narcissus in a sense. He is extremely vain and throughout the poem addresses his illegitimate children in hopes of securing a more grandiose burial than a rival bishop, "Gandolf." Robert Browning, though a 19th century author, assumes the role of the vain 16th century bishop in the lengthy poem to address the perceived corruption occurring in the church.

The poem...