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Life of Robert Browning

Chapter 24: B.
By William Sharp
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BiographiesBritish Literature

About This Book

The author traces the poet's life from London birth and family background through childhood precocity, artistic influences, and early education, describing formative encounters with Shelley, Keats, and continental art that shaped his youthful verse. It follows the publication and reception of early poems such as Pauline, his travels, immersion in literary circles, friendships with contemporary writers, and evolving methods culminating in dramatic monologues. The narrative combines biographical detail, critical commentary, and documentary notes to map personal relationships, publishing history, and the development of themes and technique across his career.

INDEX.

A.

B.

  •  Bagni di Lucca, 157, 165
  •  Bailey's "Festus," 114
  • "Balaustion's Adventure," 182, 190
  •  Balzac, 36, 114, 138, 185, 203, 206
  •  Barrett, Arabella, 54, 174
  •  Barrett, Edward, 136
  •  Barrett, Mr., 144, 161, 170
  • "Beatrice Signorini," 131
  •  Beautiful in Verse, the, 206-7
  •  Beethoven, 209
  • "Before," 130
  • "Bells and Pomegranates," 76, 81, 138
  • "Ben Karshook's Wisdom," 167
  •  Berdoe, E., 68, 204, 207
  • "Bifurcations," 130
  • "Bishop Blougram," 93, 179
  •  Blake, William, 94
  • "Blot on the 'Scutcheon, A," 79, 88, 89, 90, 91, 206
  •  Bossuet and Browning, 191
  •  Browning, Clara, 21
  •  Browning, Elizabeth Barrett:
    •  Browning's early influence on, 92;
    •  born March 4, 1809, 136;
    •  her girlhood and early work, 136;
    •  death of brother, 136;
    •  residence in London, 137;
    • "The Cry of the Children," 137;
    •  friendships with Horne and Kenyon, 137;
    •  her appreciation of Browning's poems, 138;
    •  correspondence with him, 138;
    •  engagement, 139;
    •  acquaintance with Mrs. Jameson, 143;
    •  marriage, 145;
    •  Mr. Barrett's resentment, 144;
    •  journey to Paris, 145;
    •  thence to Pisa, 146;
    •  Browning's love for his wife, 146;
    • "Sonnets from the Portuguese," 147;
    •  in spring to Florence, 150;
    •  to Ancona, via Ravenna, in June, 150;
    •  winter at Casa Guidi, 152;
    • "Aurora Leigh," 152;
    •  description of poetess, 153, 154;
    •  birth of son in 1849, 157;
    • "Casa Guidi Windows," 159;
    •  1850, spring in Rome; proposal to confer poet-laureateship on Mrs. Browning, 159, 161;
    •  1851, visits England, 161;
    •  winter in Paris, 162;
    •  she is enthusiastic about Napoleon III. and interested in Spiritualism;
    •  summer in London, 162;
    •  autumn at Casa Guidi, 162;
    •  winter 1853-4 in Rome, 1856 "Aurora Leigh," death of Kenyon, legacies, 170;
    •  1857, death of Mr. Barrett, 170;
    •  1858, delicacy of Mrs. Browning, 171;
    •  July 1858, Brownings travel to Normandy; "Two Poems by Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning," 1854, 173;
    •  1860, "Poems before Congress," and death of Arabella Barrett, 160;
    • "North and South," 174;
    •  return to Casa Guidi, and death on 28th June 1861, 175, 206
  •  Browning, Reuben, 18, 19, 20
  •  Browning, Robert:
    •  born in London in 1812, 11, 13, 19;
    •  his literary and artistic antecedents and contemporaries, 12-14;
    •  his parentage and ancestry, 15, 17-19;
    •  concerning traces of Semitic origin, 15-19;
    •  his sisters, 20;
    •  his father, 18;
    •  his mother, 20, 23;
    •  his uncle, Reuben Browning, 20;
    •  the Camberwell home, 23;
    •  his childhood, 22;
    •  early poems, 25;
    •  translation of the odes of Horace, 26;
    •  goes to school at Peckham, 27;
    •  his holiday afternoons, 27;
    • "Death of Harold," 29;
    •  criticisms of Miss Flower and Mr. Fox, 30;
    •  he reads Shelley's and Keats's poems, 30, 31;
    •  he has a tutor, 33;
    •  attends Gower Street University College, 34;
    •  he decides to be a poet, 35;
    •  writes "Pauline," 1832, 36;
    •  it is published in 1833, 39;
    • "Pauline," 39-49;
    •  criticisms thereon, 49;
    •  Rossetti and "Pauline," studies at British Museum, 52, 53;
    •  travels in 1833 to Russia, 57;
    •  to Italy, 58;
    •  return to Camberwell, 1834, 58, and begins "Paracelsus," sonnet signed "Z," 1834, 60;
    •  love for Venice, 62;
    • "Paracelsus," 59, 62;
    •  criticisms thereon, 71, 73;
    •  he meets Macready, 73;
    • "Narses," 76;
    •  he meets Talfourd, Wordsworth, Landor, 77;
    • "Strafford," 79;
    •  his dramas, 85;
    •  his love of the country, 95;
    • "Pippa Passes," 96, 98;
    • "Sordello," 105;
    •  origin of "The Ring and the Book," 1865;
    • "The Ring and the Book," 113-119;
    • "The Inn Album," 127;
    • "Men and Women," 128;
    •  proposed "Transcripts from Life," 129;
    • "Flower o' the Vine," 131;
    •  correspondence between him and Miss Barrett, 136;
    •  meeting in 1846, 138;
    •  engagement, 140;
    •  marriage, 12th September 1846, 145;
    •  sojourn in Pisa, 146;
    •  they go to Florence, 148;
    •  to Ancona, via Ravenna, 150;
    • "The Guardian Angel," 150;
    •  Casa Guidi, 152;
    •  birth of son, March 9th, 1849, 157;
    •  they go to Vallombrosa and Bagni di Lucca for the autumn, and winter at Casa Guidi, 156;
    •  spring of 1850 in Rome, 159;
    • "Two in the Campagna," 156;
    •  1851, they visit England;
    •  description of Browning, 161;
    •  winter 1851-2 in Paris with Robert Browning, senior, 162;
    •  Browning writes Prefatory Essay to Moxon's edition of Shelley's Letters, 163;
    •  midsummer, Baths of Lucca, 165;
    •  in Florence, 166;
    • "In a Balcony," 166;
    •  winter in Rome, 1853-4, 166;
    •  the work written there, 167;
    • "Ben Karshook's Wisdom," 167;
    • "Men and Women" published, 168;
    •  Kenyon's death, and legacies to the Brownings, 170;
    •  poems written between 1855-64, 169;
    •  July 1858, Brownings go to Normandy, 173;
    • "Legend of Pornic," "Gold Hair," 173;
    •  autumn of 1859 in Sienna; winter 1860-61 in Rome, 173;
    •  death of Mrs. Browning, June 1861, 175;
    • "Prospice," 176;
    •  1866, Browning loses his father; Miss Sarianna resides with Browning, 177;
    •  his ways of life, 177;
    •  first collected edition of his works, 1868, 178;
    •  first part of "The Ring and the Book" published, 178;
    • "Hervé Riel," 179;
    •  Tauchnitz edition, 1872, 179;
    • "Bishop Blougram," 179;
    • "Selections," 180;
    • "La Saisiaz," 1877, 180;
    • "The Two Poets of Croisic," 181;
    •  later works, 182;
    • "Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau," "Red Cotton Nightcap Country," 182, 183;
    • "Fifine at the Fair," 183, 184, 185-7;
    • "Jocoseria," 187;
    •  1881, Browning Society established, 188;
    •  his latter years, 189;
    •  revisits Asolo, 191;
    •  Palazzo Rezzonico, 192;
    •  religious belief, 193;
    •  death, December 12th, 1889, 195, 196;
    •  funeral, 197;
    •  to be estimated by a new definition, 200;
    •  as poet, rather than as thinker, 200;
    •  his love of life, 201;
    •  his, like Bossuet's, a Hebrew genius fecundated by Christianity, 201;
    •  his artistic relations to Death and Sex, 201-3;
    •  where, in standpoint, he differs from Tennyson, 203;
    •  as to quality of his mass of work, 204;
    •  intellectually exploited, 204;
    •  his difficulties, and their attraction to many, 205;
    •  his attitude to the future, influence, and significance, 205-211;
    •  summary of his life-work, 200-212.
  •  Browning, Robert Wiedemann Barrett, 18, 37, 157, 163, 174
  •  Browning, Robert (senior), 18, 20, 32, 33, 37, 38, 159, 173
  •  Browning, Sarianna (Mrs.), 21, 25, 29, 32
  •  Browning, Sarianna (Miss), 20, 177, 188
  •  Browning Society, the, 160, 188
  •  Browning, William Shergold, 18
  •  Byron, 149
  • "By the Fireside," 130

C.

D.

E.

  • "Earth's Immortalities," 129
  • "Echetlos," 130
  •  Epics, series of monodramatic, 36
  •  Equator of Browning's genius, the, 178
  • "Evelyn Hope," 129, 168

F.

G.

H.

I.

  • "Imperante Augusto," 131
  • "In a Balcony," 88, 166, 167, 168, 179
  • "In a Gondola," 129
  • "Inapprehensiveness," 131
  • "In a Year," 130
  • "Inn Album, The," 70, 101, 113, 127, 182
  • "Instans Tyrannus," 26
  • "Italian in England, The," 58
  •  Italian Art, Music, etc.--Influence of, on Browning, 58
  •  Italy, first visit to, 56-7
  • "Ivàn Ivànovitch," 57, 130
  • "Ixion," 188

J.

  •  Jameson, Mrs., 143
  • "James Lee's Wife," 59, 130, 172
  •  Jerrold, Douglas, 109
  • "Jocoseria," 130, 182, 187
  • "Johannes Agricola," 59
  •  Joubert, 193

K.

L.

  • "Lady and the Painter, The," 131
  •  Lamartine on Bossuet, 191
  •  Landor, W.S., 77-9, 92
  • "La Saisiaz," 130, 180
  • "Last Ride Together, The," 130
  •  Le Croisie, 178
  •  Lehmann's, Rudolf, portrait of Browning, 16, 17
  •  Leit-Motif, Browning's, 210
  •  Letter to a Girl Friend, 191
  • "Life in a Love," 130
  • "Light Woman, A," 130
  • "Lost Leader, The," 78, 129
  • "Love among the Ruins," 129, 166, 168
  • "Love in a Life," 130
  • "Lover's Quarrel, A," 129
  •  Lowell, J.R., 142
  • "Luria," 88, 89-92, 179

M.

  •  Macpherson, Mrs., 143-6
  •  Macready, 74-81
  • "Magical Nature," 130
  •  Manner, Browning's, 211
  •  Marlowe, 114
  • "Mary Wollstonecraft and Fuseli," 130
  • "Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha," 130, 168
  • "May and Death," 130
  •  Mazzini, 58
  • "Meeting at Night," 129, 158
  • "Memorabilia," 130, 166
  • "Men and Women," 127-136, 166, 168, 169, 171, 178, 179, 182
  •  Meredith, George, 123, 124, 186, 198
  •  Meynell, Wilfrid, 191
  •  Montaigne, 207
  •  Mortimer, 201-2
  •  Motive, Browning's fundamental poetic, 210
  •  Mill, John Stuart, 51
  •  Milsand, J., 111
  •  Milton, 49, 92, 133, 198
  • "Misconceptions," 130
  •  Mitford, Mary, 78
  • "Muléykeh," 130
  •  Murray, Alma, 188
  •  Music of Browning's verse, 205-10
  • "My Last Duchess," 129
  • "My Star," 130

N.

  • "Narses," 76
  • "Natural Magic," 120
  •  Nature, Browning's observation of, 96
  •  Nettleship, J., 75, 107
  • "Never the Time and the Place," 130, 188
  •  Newman, Cardinal, 194
  •  New Spirit of the Age, 138
  •  Normandy, the Brownings in, 173
  • "Now," 131
  • "Numpholeptos," 130