Page 194. The Guardian Angel.
The picture which Browning describes, called L' Angelo Custode, is in the church of St. Augustine at Fano; and it "represents an angel standing with outstretched wings by a little child. The child is half-kneeling on a kind of pedestal, while the angel joins its hands in prayer; its gaze is directed upwards towards the sky, from which cherubs are looking down." It is not regarded as one of his chief pictures, but it interested Browning because of the subject, and its simple pathos.
Page 194. Alfred, dear friend.
Alfred Domett, the hero of Waring, an early friend of Browning, and at the time living in New Zealand. Mrs. Orr writes: "When he read the apostrophe to 'Alfred, dear friend,' he had reached the last line before it occurred to him that the person invoked could be he."
Page 254. Instans Tyrannus.
The title of this poem was suggested by Horace's ode, III. iii. 1. beginning
Justum et tenacem propositi virum,
Non civium ardor prava jubentium
Non vultus instantis tyranni.
Page 264. Waring.