[LX]–[LXVI]
The first two appeared in Poems (2 vols., Edward Moxon, 1842). The third is from The Princess: a Medley (Edward Moxon, 1847). The fourth is from the lines entitled, To the Queen, forming the Dedication of the Seventh Edition of Poems (London: 1851). The fifth and sixth first appeared in The Examiner, in 1852; the former on January 31, and the latter on February 7. The seventh is from the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, published separately in November 1852 (Edward Moxon), and reprinted with Maud (1855).
[LXVII]–[LXVIII]
The first appeared in The Examiner, December 9, 1854, and was reprinted with Maud (1855). Written on December 2nd, in a few minutes, after reading the description in The Times, in which occurred the phrase ‘someone had blundered.’ (Memoir, i. p. 381.) The second is from Maud.
[LXIX]
The Return of the Guards and Other Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1866). By permission of the publishers. The poem deals with an incident of the war with China (1860):—‘Some Seiks (Sikhs) and a private of the Buffs (or East Kent Regiment) having remained behind with the grog-carts, fell into the hands of the Chinese. On the next morning they were brought before the authorities, and commanded to perform the Ko tou. The Seiks obeyed; but Moyse, the English soldier, declaring that he would not prostrate himself before any Chinaman alive, was immediately knocked upon the head, and his body thrown upon a dunghill.’ Quoted by the author from The Times.
[LXX]–[LXXI]
Bells and Pomegranates (vii. 1845). The first was written in Italy. The second was written in pencil on the cover of an Italian book during Browning’s first journey to Italy. He sailed in a merchant vessel from London to Trieste, and was the only passenger (1838). A letter from the poet to Miss Haworth gives an account of the voyage. (Life and Letters, edited by Mrs. Sutherland Orr, 2nd edition, p. 97.)