第1章

Authorof”AnIntroductiontotheStudyofShakespeare”，”APrimerofEnglishVerse，chieflyinitsAestheticandOrganicCharacter”，”TheAimsofLiteraryStudy”，etc。

MydearDr。Corson，IwaitedsomedaysafterthearrivalofyourBookandLetter，thinkingImightbeabletosaymoreofmysenseofyourgoodness：

butIcandonomorenowthanaweekago。You”hopeIshallnotfindtoomuchtodisapproveof”：whatIoughttoprotestagainst，is”aloadtosinkanavy——toomuchhonor”：howcanIputasideyourgenerosity，asifcoldjustice——howeverbefittingmyself——

wouldbeinbetteragreementwithyournature?Letitremainasanassurancetoyoungerpoetsthat，afterfiftyyears’workunattendedbyanyconspicuousrecognition，anover-paymentmaybemade，iftherebesuchanothermunificentappreciatorasIhavebeenprivilegedtofind，inwhichcaseletthem，evenifmoredeserving，beequallygrateful。

Ihavenotobservedanythinginneedofcorrectioninthenotes。

The”littleTablet”wasafamous”LastSupper”，mentionedbyVasari，(page。232)，andgoneastraylongagofromtheChurchofS。Spirito：

itturnedup，accordingtoreport，insomeobscurecorner，whileIwasinFlorence，andwasatonceacquiredbyastranger。

Isawit，genuineorno，aworkofgreatbeauty。(Page156。)”Acanon”，inmusic，isapiecewhereinthesubjectisrepeated——

invariouskeys：andbeingstrictlyobeyedintherepetition，becomesthe”Canon”——theimperativelaw——towhatfollows。

Fiftyofsuchpartswouldbeindeedanotablepeal：

tomanagethreeisenoughofanachievementforagoodmusician。

Andnow，——hereisChristmas：allmybestwishesgotoyouandMrsCorson。Thoseofmysisteralso。Shewasindeedsufferingfromgraveindispositioninthesummer，butishappilyrecovered。

Icouldnotventure，underthecircumstances，toexposeherconvalescencetotheaccidentsofforeigntravel：

henceourcontentingourselveswithWalesratherthanItaly。

Shallyoubeagaininducedtovisitus?Presentorabsent，youwillremembermealways，Itrust，asYoursmostaffectionatelyRobertBrowning。”Quantasubtilitateipsacordahominumreserat，intimosmentisrecessusexplorat，variosanimimotusperscrutatur。

Quodadtragoediamantiquioremattinet，interpretatusest，utinostisomnes，nonmodoAeschylumquonemosublimior，sedetiamEuripidemquonemohumanior；quofitutetiamillosquiGraecenesciunt，misericordiatangatAlcestis，terroretangatHercules。Recentioraargumentatragicacumlyricoquodamscribendigenereconiunxit，duasMusasetMelpomenenetEuterpensimulveneratus。Musicaemiraculaquisdigniuscecinit?

PictorisFlorentinisinefraudevitamquasiintercrepusculavesperascentemcoloribusquamvividisdepinxit。Vesperiquotiens，dumfocoadsidemus，hociubenteresurgitItalia。Vesperinuper，dumhuiusidylliafortemeditabar，Camiinterarundinesmihividebarvocemmagnamaudireclamantis，Pa\no`me/gasou’te/qnhken。

VivitadhucPanipse，cumMarathonismemoriaetPheidippidisvelocitateimmortaliconsociatus。”——EulogiumpronouncedbyMr。J。E。Sandys，PublicOratorattheUniversityofCambridge，onpresentingMr。BrowningforthehonorarydegreeofDoctorofLaws，June10，1879。

PREFACE。

ThepurposeofthepresentvolumeistoaffordsomeaidandguidanceinthestudyofRobertBrowning’sPoetry，which，beingthemostcomplexlysubjectiveofallEnglishpoetry，is，forthatreasonalone，themostdifficult。Andthenthepoet’sfavoriteart-form，thedramatic，or，rather，psychologic，monologue，whichisquiteoriginalwithhimself，andpeculiarlyadaptedtotheconstitutionofhisgeniusandtotherevelationofthemselvesbytheseveral”dramatispersonae”，presentscertainstructuraldifficulties，butdifficultieswhich，withanincreasedfamiliarity，growlessandless。TheexpositionpresentedintheIntroduction，ofitsconstitutionandskilfulmanagement，andtheArgumentsgivenoftheseveralpoemsincludedinthevolume，will，itishoped，reduce，ifnotaltogetherremove，thedifficultiesofthiskind。

InthesamesectionoftheIntroduction，certainpeculiaritiesofthepoet’sdiction，whichsometimesgiveachecktothereader’sunderstandingofapassage，arepresentedandillustrated。

IthinkitnotnecessarytoofferanyapologyformygoingallthewaybacktoChaucer，andnotingtheEbbandFlowinEnglishPoetrydowntothepresenttime，ofthespiritualitywhichconstitutesthereallifeofpoetry，andwhichshould，asfaraspossible，bebroughttotheconsciousnessandappreciationofstudents。

WhatImeanbyspiritualityisexplainedinmytreatmentofthesubject。Thedegreetowhichpoetryisquickenedwithitshouldalwaysenterintoanestimateofitsabsoluteworth。

Itisthat，indeed，whichconstitutesitsabsoluteworth。

Theweightofthoughtconveyed，whateverthatbe，willnotcompensatefortheabsenceofit。

Thestudyofpoetry，inourinstitutionsoflearning，sofarasI

havetakennoteofit，andtheeducationinducedthereby，arealmostpurelyintellectual。Thestudent’sspiritualnatureislefttotakecareofitself；andtheconsequenceisthathebecomes，atbest，onlyathinkingandanalyzingmachine。

ThespiritualclaimsofthestudyofpoetryareespeciallydemandedinthecaseofBrowning’spoetry。Browningisgenerallyandtrulyregardedasthemostintellectualofpoets。

NopoetryinEnglishliterature，orinanyliterature，ismorechargedwithdiscursivethoughtthanhis。Butheis，atthesametime，themostspiritualandtranscendentalofpoets，the”subtlestassertoroftheSoulinSong”。Histhoughtisneveranendtoitself，butisalwayssubservienttoanulteriorspiritualend——alwaysdirectedtowards”apresentmentofthecorrespondencyoftheuniversetoDeity，ofthenaturaltothespiritual，andoftheactualtotheideal”；anditisall-importantthatstudentsshouldbeawakened，andmade，asfaraspossible，responsivetothisspiritualend。

ThesectionsoftheIntroductiononPersonalityandArtwerereadbeforetheBrowningSocietyofLondon，inJune，1882。

Ihaveseennoreasonforchangingormodifying，inanyrespect，theviewsthereinexpressed。

Theideaofpersonalityasaquickening，regeneratingpower，andtheideaofartasanintermediateagencyofpersonality，are，perhaps，themostreiterated(implicitly，notexplicitly)

inBrowning’spoetry，andleaduptothedominantideaofChristianity，theideaofaDivinePersonality；theideathatthesoul，touseanexpressionfromhisearliestpoem，`Pauline’，must”restbeneathsomebetteressencethanitselfinweakness”。

Thenotestothepoemswillbefound，Itrust，tocoverallpointsandfeaturesofthetextwhichrequireexplanationandelucidation。

Ihavenot，atanyrate，wittinglypassedbyanyrealdifficulties。

Whethermyexplanationsandinterpretationswillinallcasesbeacceptable，remainstobeseen。

HiramCorson。

CascadillaCottage，Ithaca，N。Y。

September，1886。

NotetotheSecondEdition。

Inthisedition，severalerrorsofthefirsthavebeencorrected。

Forthenoteson”fifty-partcanon”，p。156，and”acertainpreciouslittletablet”，p。232，IamindebtedtoMr。Browning。

H。C。

NotetotheThirdEdition。

Inthiseditionhavebeenadded，`ADeathintheDesert’，withargument，notes，andcommentary，afac-simileofaletterfromthepoet，andaportraitcopiedfromaphotograph(thelasttakenofhim)whichhegavemewhenvisitinghiminVenice，amonthbeforehisdeath。

Itmaybeofinterest，andofsomevalue，tomanystudentsofBrowning’spoetry，toknowareplyhemade，inregardtotheexpressionin`MyLastDuchess’，”Igavecommands；thenallsmilesstoppedtogether。”

WewerewalkingupanddownthegreathallofthePalazzoRezzonico，when，inthecourseofwhatIwastellinghimaboutthestudyofhisworksintheUnitedStates，Ialludedtothedividedopinionastothemeaningoftheaboveexpressionin`MyLastDuchess’，someunderstandingthatthecommandsweretoputtheDuchesstodeath，andothers，asIhaveexplainedtheexpressiononp。87ofthisvolume(lastparagraph)。Hemadenoreply，foramoment，andthensaid，meditatively，”Yes，Imeantthatthecommandswerethatsheshouldbeputtodeath。”

Andthen，afterapause，headded，withacharacteristicdashofexpression，andasifthethoughthadjuststartedinhismind，”Orhemighthavehadhershutupinaconvent。”Thiswastomeverysignificant。Whenhewrotetheexpression，”Igavecommands”，etc。，hemaynothavethoughtdefinitelywhatthecommandswere，morethanthattheyputastoptothesmilesofthesweetDuchess，whichprovokedthecontemptiblejealousyoftheDuke。Thiswasallhisartpurposerequired，andhisminddidnotgobeyondit。

IthoughthowmanyvaindiscussionstakeplaceinBrowningClubs，aboutlittlepointswhichareoutsideoftherangeoftheartisticmotiveofacomposition，andhowmanymindsareoccupiedwithanythingandeverythingunderthesun，excepttheonethingneedful(theartisticorspiritualmotive)，theresultbeing”asifoneshouldbeignorantofnothingconcerningthescentofviolets，exceptthescentitself。”