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 Rome; record of work; "Pen's" illness; "Ben Karshook's Wisdom"; return to Florence; (1856) "Men and Women" published; the Brownings go to London; in summer "Aurora Leigh" issued; 1858, Mrs. Browning's waning health; 1855-64 comparatively unproductive period with R. Browning; record of work; July 1855, they travel to Normandy; "Legend of Pornic"; Mrs. Browning's ardent interest in the Italian struggle of 1859; winter in Rome; "Poems before Congress"; her last poem, "North and South"; death of Mrs. Browning at Casa Guidi, 28th June 1861.
Chapter 9.
Browning's allusions to death of his wife; Miss Browning resides with her brother from 1866; 1868, collected works published; first part of "The Ring and the Book" published in November 1866; "Herve Riel" written; Browning's growing popularity; Tauchnitz editions of his poems in 1872; also first book of selections; dedication to Lord Tennyson; 1877, he goes to La Saisiaz, near Geneva; "La Saisiaz" and "The Two Poets of Croisic" published 1878; Browning's later poems; Browning Society established 1881; Browning's letter thereupon to Mr. Yates; trips abroad; his London residences; his last letter to Tennyson; revisits Asolo; Palazzo Rezzonico; his belief in immortality; his death, Thursday, Dec. 12th, 1889; funeral in Westminster Abbey; Sonnet by George Meredith; new star in Orion; R. Browning's place in literature; Summary, etc.
Note.
In all important respects I leave this volume to speak for itself. For obvious reasons it does not pretend to be more than a `Memoire pour servir': in the nature of things, the definitive biography cannot appear for many years to come. None the less gratefully may I take the present opportunity to express my indebtedness to Mr. R. Barrett Browning, and to other relatives and intimate friends of Robert Browning, who have given me serviceable information, and otherwise rendered kindly aid. For some of the hitherto unpublished details my thanks are, in particular, due to Mrs. Fraser Corkran and Miss Alice Corkran, and to other old friends of the poet and his family, here, in Italy, and in America; though in one or two instances, I may add, I had them from Robert Browning himself. It is with pleasure that I further acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Furnivall, for the loan of the advance-proofs of his privately-printed pamphlet on "Browning's Ancestors"; and to the Browning Society's Publications — particularly to Mrs. Sutherland Orr's and Dr. Furnivall's biographical and bibliographical contributions thereto; to Mr. Gosse's biographical article in the `Century Magazine' for 1881; to Mr. Ingram's `Life of E. B. Browning'; and to the `Memoirs of Anna Jameson', the `Italian Note-Books' of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mr. G. S. Hillard's `Six Months in Italy' (1853), and the Lives and Correspondence of Macready, Miss Mitford, Leigh Hunt, and Walter Savage Landor. I regret that the imperative need of concision has prevented the insertion of many of the letters, anecdotes, and reminiscences, so generously placed at my disposal; but possibly I may have succeeded in educing from them some essential part of that light which they undoubtedly cast upon the personality and genius of the poet.