Life of Robert Browning | Page 4

in autumn of 1834 and winter of 1835
commences "Sordello", writes "Paracelsus", and one or two short
poems; his love for Venice; a new voice audible in "Johannes Agricola"
and "Porphyria"; "Paracelsus", published in 1835; his own explanation
of it; his love of walking in the dark; some of "Paracelsus" and of
"Strafford" composed in a wood near Dulwich; concerning
"Paracelsus" and Browning's sympathy with the scientific spirit;
description and scope of the poem; quotations therefrom; estimate of
the work, and its four lyrics.
Chapter 4
.
Criticisms upon "Paracelsus", important one written by John Forster;
Browning meets Macready at the house of Mr. Fox; personal

description of the poet; Macready's opinion of the poem; Browning
spends New Year's Day, 1836, at the house of the tragedian and meets
John Forster; Macready urges him to write a play; his subsequent
interview with the tragedian; he plans a drama to be entitled "Narses";
meets Wordsworth and Walter Savage Landor at a supper party, when
the young poet is toasted, and Macready again proposes that Browning
should write a play, from which arose the idea of "Strafford"; his
acquaintance with Wordsworth and Landor; MS. of "Strafford"
accepted; its performance at Covent Garden Theatre on the 26th May
1837; runs for five nights; the author's comments; the drama issued by
Messrs. Longman & Co.; the performance in 1886; estimate of
"Strafford"; Browning's dramas; comparison between the Elizabethan
and Victorian dramatic eras; Browning's soul-depictive faculty; his
dramatic method; estimate of his dramas; Landor's acknowledgment of
the dedication to him of "Luria".
Chapter 5
.
"Profundity" and "Simplicity"; the faculty of wonder; Browning's first
conception of "Pippa Passes"; his residence in London; his country
walks; his ways and habits, and his heart-episodes; debates whether to
become a clergyman; is "Pippa Passes" a drama? estimate of the poem;
Browning's rambles on Wimbledon Common and in Dulwich Wood,
where he composes his lines upon Shelley; asserts there is romance in
Camberwell as well as in Italy; "Sordello"; the charge of obscurity
against "Sordello"; the nature and intention of the poem; quotations
therefrom; anecdote about Douglas Jerrold; Tennyson's, Carlyle's, and
M. Odysse Barot's opinions on "Sordello"; "enigmatic" poetry; in 1863
Browning contemplated the re-writing of "Sordello"; dedication to the
French critic, Milsand.
Chapter 6
.
Browning's three great dramatic poems; "The Ring and the Book" his
finest work; its uniqueness; Carlyle's criticism of it; Poetry versus
Tour-de-Force; "The Ring and the Book" begun in 1866; analysis of the
poem; kinship of "The Ring and the Book" and "Aurora Leigh";

explanation of title; the idea taken from a parchment volume Browning
picked up in Florence; the poem planned at Casa Guidi; "O Lyric
Love", etc.; description and analysis of "The Ring and the Book", with
quotations; compared as a poem with "The Inn Album", "Pauline",
"Asolando", "Men and Women", etc.; imaginary volumes, to be entitled
"Transcripts from Life" and "Flowers o' the Vine"; Browning's greatest
period; Browning's primary importance.
Chapter 7
.
Early life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning; born in 1820;* the chief
sorrow of her life; the Barrett family settle in London; "The Cry of the
Children" and its origin; Miss Barrett's friends; effect on her of
Browning's poetry; she makes Browning's acquaintance in 1846; her
early belief in him as a poet; her physical delicacy and her sensitiveness
of feeling; personal appearance of Robert Browning; his "electric" hand;
Elizabeth Barrett discerns his personal worth, and is susceptible to the
strong humanity of Browning's song; Mr. Barrett's jealousy; their
engagement; Miss Barrett's acquaintance with Mrs. Jameson; quiet
marriage in 1846; Mr. Barrett's resentment; the Brownings go to Paris;
thence to Italy with Mrs. Jameson; Wordsworth's comments; residence
in Pisa; "Sonnets from the Portuguese"; in the spring they go to
Florence, thence to Ancona, where "The Guardian Angel" was written;
Casa Guidi; W. W. Story's account of the rooms at Casa Guidi; perfect
union.
-- * This date is a typographical error, but the date given in the text
itself, 1809, is also incorrect -- it should be 1806. Mr. Sharp's lack of
knowledge on this subject is understandable, however, as, to quote
from Mrs. Orr's "Life and Letters of Robert Browning" (1891): "She
looked much younger than her age, which [Robert Browning] only
recently knew to have been six years beyond his own." -- A. L., 1996.
--
Chapter 8
.
March 1849, birth of Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning; Browning
writes his "Christmas Eve and Easter Day"; "Casa Guidi Windows"

commenced; 1850, they go to Rome; "Two in the Campagna"; proposal
to confer poet-laureateship on Mrs. Browning; return to London; winter
in Paris; summer in London; Kenyon's friendship; return in autumn to
Casa Guidi; Browning's Essay on Shelley for the twenty-five spurious
Shelley letters; midsummer at Baths of Lucca, where "In a Balcony"
was in part written; winter of 1853-4 in