BROWNING, ROBERT (1812-1889). An Eng lish poet, distinguished for his original and subtle thought. He was born in Camberwell. a suburb of London, May 7, 1812. His father, Rob ert. was a clerk in the Bank of England, and his mother, Sarah ADM the daughter of a Hamburg shipowner named Wiedemann, settled in Dundee. The father was a good classical scholar. a lover of old books, and a ready versifier. The mother, who bad some musical talent, was of an exalted and lovely character. Both parents were Dis senters: and Browning never quite escaped from the consequences of his early religious training. although in one direction he permitted himself great breadth of speculation. Cardinal Wise man, indeed, reviewing .lien and Women in 1856, detected "beneath the surface an under current of thought that is by no means incon sistent with our religion." The future poet had a happy childhood, encouraged by his father and mother in his refined tastes, and learning less from his school than from them and from the books they placed in his way. Among these was Pope's Iliad, which he read and liked at the age of eight. But his first master was really Byron, under whose influence he had written by 1824 enough poems to form a volume. Fortu nately, this failed to find a publisher, for the next year the works of Shelley and Keats came into his hands, and. by revealing the possibilities of poetry. dissipated his youthful ideals and quickened his own development. After leaving school, Browning studied under a tutor, then attended a few lectures at University College, London. deciding to complete his education by travel on the Continent and a more intimate ac quaintance with foreign literature. His sym pathetic father had left him free to choose his life work. and although he was at this time known as an artist and musician rather than a writer, evidently be had long felt a stronger inclination in the direction of authorship:and an early desire to produce a series of monodramatic epics illustrating the life of typical souls now revived itself urgently. Early in January. 1833, he put forth anonymously his first book, Pauline, written the year before; a poem immature as a whole, but abounding in passages of great beauty. Ile spent the winter of 1833-34 in Rus sia. In 1835 he published a metaphysical drama, entitled Paracelsus, which was hailed by John Forster (q.v.) as a work of genius. and secured for Browning the friendship of Macready the actor, to whom he dedicated the historical drama Strafford (1837). From this time on until his marriage Browning lived mostly in London and its neighborhood. studying life, nature, and books, though in 1838 lie visited Italy. In 1840 lie pub lished the second of his series of dra matic monologues, whose inception dates back to 1834. The period 1841-46 was well filled by a
series of poems published in eight numbers, bear ing the collective title Bells and Pomegranates, and beginning with Pippo Passes, a lyrical drama showing, the power of unconscious influ ence, which received warm praise from Miss Bar rett, afterwards Mrs. Browning. This remark able group embraced the plays King Victor and King Charles (1842); The Return of the Druses (1843) ; Colombc's Birthday (1844), success fully acted in 1853; the tragedy A Blot in the 'Seuteheon (1843), produced at Drury Lane that same year: Dramatic Lyrics (1842), among them "Cavalier Tunes" and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin": Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (I515), including "How They Brought the Good News." "A Lust Leader," and "The Flight of the Duchess"; and closed with A Soul's Tragedy (1846), a work of tremendous power. In 1846 Browning was married to Elizabeth Barrett. and after that date resided in Italy, spending with his wife sonic months in England and Paris, 1831-52, and in Normandy, 185S, and returning to England to educate his son after Mrs. Brown ing's death in 1861. Before this sad termination of an ideal married life, Browning had published (1850) Christmas Ere and Easter Day, a poem defending catholicity in religion; and Men and Women (1835). including "Evelyn Hope," "Era Lipp° Lippi," and other now well-known poems. Then followed Dramatis Persona' (1864). con taining "Gold Hair" and "Rabbi Ben Ezra": The Ring and the Book (18(18-(19), an epic in 21,116 lines. with the tyranny of the passions, and considered by many his masterpiece; Ratans tion's (1871). including an English version of the of Euripides; Prince Hohenstiel Schwangau (1S71), a defense by the prince (Napoleon III.) of the doctrine of expe diency; Fifine at the Pair (1872), a powerful discussion of a question in morals; Red Cotton Night-Cap Country (1873), the story of a fa mous Norman law case: Aristophanes's .4po/ogy (1875), including a transcript from Euripides: The Inn Album (18751, a tragic story of betrayal and suicide; Pacchiarotto and Other Poems (1s7n) The Agamemnon of .Eschylus (1877): La ,s'aisiaz and The Two Poets of Croisie (1878), the former asserting his belief in a future life: Dramatic Idyls (IS79-S0): Jocoscria (I8S3), a number of narrative poems; Ferishtah's Fancies (1884): Parleyings with Certain People of Im portance in Their Day (1887), the characters serving as mouthpieces for the poet's opinions on literary, artistic, and philosophical questions; and .1.00/amfo, published in London on the day of Browning's death, which occurred in Venice. December 12, 1889. lIe was buried in Westmin ster Abbey.