第6章

andagainandagaininhispoemswemayencountervagueechoesofthose“remoteisles“and“perilousseas“as，forexample，in“thedimclusteredislesofthebluesea“of“Pauline“，andthe“someisle，withthesea’ssilenceonit

someunsuspectedisleinthefarseas!“of“PippaPasses“。

Butofcoursehehadothermattersformentaloccupationbesidespoetry。

HiseducationatMr。Ready’sprivateacademyseemstohavebeenexcellentsofarasitwent。Heremainedtheretillhewasfourteen。

Perhapsbecauseofthefewboardersattheschool，possiblyfromhisownreticenceinself-disclosure，hedoesnotseemtohaveimpressedanyschool-matedeeply。Wehearofnoonewho“knewBrowningatschool。“Hisbesteducation，afterall，wasathome。

HisfatherandmotherincidentallytaughthimasmuchasMr。Ready：

hisloveofpaintingandmusicwasfostered，indirectly：

andinthe`dovecot’bookshelfabovethefireplaceinhisbedroom，werethepreciousvolumeswithinwhoseswayandmagicwashistruestlife。

Hisfather，forsomereasonwhichhasnotbeenmadepublic，butwasdoubtlessexcellent，andis，inthelightinwhichwenowregardit，amatterforwhichtobethankful，decidedtosendhissonneithertoalargepublicschool，nor，later，toOxfordorCambridge。

Amorestimulativeandwidertrainingwasawaitinghimelsewhere。

ForatimeRobert’seducationwassuperintendedbyatutor，whocametothehouseinCamberwellforseveralhoursdaily。

Theafternoonsweremainlydevotedtomusic，toexercise，andoccasionallytovariousexperimentalstudiesintechnicalscience。

Intheevenings，afterhispreparatorytaskswereover，whenhewasnotintheentertainingcompanyofhisfather，hereadandassiduouslywrote。Afterpoetry，hecaredmostforhistory：

butasamatteroffact，littlecameamisstohiseagerintellectualappetite。

Itwasaperiodofgrowth，with，itmaybe，avagueconsciousnessthathismindwasexpandingtowardscompulsiveexpression。

“SoasIgrew，IrudelyshapedmylifeTomyimmediatewants，yetstrongbeneathWasavaguesenseofpowersfoldedup

Asensethatthoughthoseshadowytimeswerepast，Theirspiritdweltinme，andIshouldrule。“

WhenMr。BrowningwassatisfiedthatthetutorhadfulfilledhisdutyhesenthissontoattendafewlecturesatUniversityCollege，inGowerStreet，thenjustfounded。RobertBrowning’snameisontheregistrar’sbooksfortheopeningsession，1829-30。

“IattendedwithhimtheGreekclassofProfessorLong“(wroteafriend，inthe`Times’，Dec。14：’89)，“andIwellrecollecttheesteemandregardinwhichhewasheldbyhisfellow-students。Hewasthenabright，handsomeyouth，withlongblackhairfallingoverhisshoulders。“

Soshortwashisperiodofattendance，however，andsounimportanttheinstructionhetherederived，thattoallintentsitmaybesaidBrowninghadnoUniversitytraining。

NotwithstandingthefactthatMr。Browningbutslightlyappreciatedhisson’spoeticidolsandalreadyfoundhimselfinanoppositeliterarycamp，hehadaprofoundsympathywiththeboy’sidealsandnolittleconfidenceinhispowers。Whenthetestcameheactedwiselyaswellaswithaffectionatecomplaisance。Inaword，hepracticallyleftthedecisionastohiscourseoflifetoRoberthimself。Thelatterwashelpedtheretobytheknowledgethathissisterwouldbeprovidedfor，andthat，ifneedbe，therewassufficientforhimselfalso。Therewasofcoursebutonewayopentohim。Hewouldnothavebeenatruepoet，anartist，ifhehadhesitated。Withastrangemisconceptionoftheartisticspirit，someonehasawardedthepoetgreatcreditforhischoice，becausehehad“thesingularcouragetodeclinetoberich。“

Browninghimselfhadnothingofthisbourgeoisspirit：

hewasthelastmantospeakofaninevitableartisticdecisionas“singularcourage“。TherearenodoubtpeoplewhoestimatehisresolveasMr。Barrett，sohisdaughterdeclared，regardedHornewhenheheardofthatpoethavingpublished“Orion“atafarthing：

“PerhapsheisgoingtoshoottheQueen，andispreparingevidenceofmonomania。“

WithBrowningtherenevercouldhavebeentwosidestothequestion：

itwereexcusable，itwerenaturaleven，hadhisfatherwavered。

TheoutcomeoftheirdeliberationswasthatRobert’sfurthereducationshouldbeobtainedfromtravel，andintercoursewithmenandforeignliteratures。

Bythistimethepoetwastwenty。Hisyouthhadbeenuneventful；inasense，moresothanhisboyhood。Hismind，however，wasrapidlyunfolding，andgreatprojectswerecastingagloryaboutthecomingdays。

Itwasinhisnineteenthyear，Ihavebeentoldongoodauthority，thathebecameardentlyinlovewithagirlofrarebeauty，ayearortwoolderthanhimself，butotherwise，possibly，noinappropriateloverforthiswooer。Whyandwhenthisearlypassioncametoaclose，orwasrudelyinterrupted，isnotknown。

Whatiscertainisthatitmadeadeepimpressiononthepoet’smind。

Itmaybethatit，ofitself，orwroughttoahigheremotionbyhishungerafteridealbeauty，wasthesourceof“Pauline“，thatveryunequalbutyetbeautifulfirstfruitofBrowning’sgenius。

Itwasnottillwithinthelastfewyearsthatthepoetspokeatallfreelyofhisyouthfullife。Perhapstheearliestrecordoftheseutterancesisthatwhichappearedinthe`CenturyMagazine’in1881。

Fromthissource，andfromwhatthepoethimselfsaidatvarioustimesandinvariousways，weknowthatjustaboutthetimeBalzac，afteryearsofapparentlywastelabour，wasbeginningtoforecasttheTitanicrangeofthe`ComedieHumaine’，Browningplanned“aseriesofmonodramaticepics，narrativesofthelifeoftypicalsouls

agiganticschemeatwhichaVictorHugooraLopedeVegawouldstartbackaghast。“

Alreadyhehadsethimselftotheanalysisofthehumansoulinitsmanifoldaspects，alreadyhehadrecognisedthatforhimatleasttherewasnootherstudyworthyofalifelongdevotion。

Inasensehehasfulfilledthisearlydream：atanyratewehaveauniqueseriesofmonodramaticpoems，illustrativeoftypicalsouls。

Inanothersense，themajorportionofBrowning’slife-workis，collectively，onemonodramatic“epic“。Heishimselfatypeofthesubtle，restless，curious，searchingmodernageofwhichheistheprofoundestinterpreter。

Throughamultitudeofmaskshe，thetypicalsoul，speaks，anddelivershimselfofamessagewhichcouldnotbepresentedemphaticallyenoughastheutteranceofasingleindividual。

Heisatruedramaticpoet，thoughnotinthesenseinwhichShakespeareis。

Shakespeareandhiskindredprojectthemselvesintothelivesoftheirimaginarypersonages：Browningpayslittleheedtoexternallife，ortotheexigenciesofaction，andprojectshimselfintothemindsofhischaracters。

Inaword，Shakespeare’smethodistodepictahumansoulinaction，withallthepertinentplayofcircumstance，whileBrowning’sistoportraytheprocessesofitsmentalandspiritualdevelopment：ashesaidinhisdedicatoryprefaceto“Sordello“，“littleelseisworthstudy。“

Theoneelectrifiesuswiththeouteranddominantactualities；

theotherflashesuponourmentalvisiontheinner，complex，shapingpotentialities。Theonedealswithlifedynamically，theotherwithlifeasThought。Bothmethodsarecompassedbyart。

Browning，whoisaboveallmodernwritersthepoetofdramaticsituations，issurpassedbymanyofinferiorpowerincontinuityofdramaticsequence。

Hisfinestworkisinhisdramaticpoems，ratherthaninhisdramas。

Herealisedintenselythevalueofquintessentialmoments，aswhenthePrefectin“TheReturnoftheDruses“thrustsasidethearras，mutteringthatforthefirsttimeheenterswithoutasenseofimminentdoom，“nodraughtcomingasfromasepulchre“salutinghim，whilethatmomentthedaggeroftheassassinplungestohisheart：

or，furtherinthesamepoem，whenAnael，comingtodenounceDjabalasanimpostor，isovermasteredbyhertyranniclove，andfallsdeadwiththetoobitterfreightofheremotion，thoughnottillshehasproclaimedhimtheGodbyhersingleworshippingcry，`Hakeem!’

or，oncemore，in“TheRingandtheBook“，where，withthesuperbestcloseofanydramaticpoeminourliterature，thewretchedGuido，atthepointofdeath，criesoutinthelastextremitynotuponGodortheVirgin，butuponhisinnocentandmurderedwife

“Abate，Cardinal，Christ，Maria，God，……

Pompilia，willyouletthemmurderme？“ThuswecanimagineBrowning，withhischaracteristicperceptionoftheprofoundsignificanceofacircumstanceorasinglewordeven，havingwrittenoftheknockingatthedoorin“Macbeth“，orhavingused，withallitsmarvellouscumulativeeffect，theword`wrought’towardsthecloseof“Othello“，whentheMoorcriesinhisbitternessofsoul，“Butbeingwrought，perplextintheextreme“：wecanimaginethis，andyetcouldnotcreditthesuggestionthateventheauthorof“TheRingandtheBook“

couldbyanypossibilityhavecomposedthetwomostmovingtragedieswritinourtongue。

Inthelateautumnof1832Browningwroteapoemofsingularpromiseandbeauty，thoughimmatureinthoughtandcrudeinexpression。*

Thirty-fouryearslaterheincluded“Pauline“inhis“PoeticalWorks“

withreluctance，andinanoteexplainedthereasonofhisdecision

namely，toforestallpiraticalreprintsabroad。“Thethingwasmyearliestattemptat`poetryalwaysdramaticinprinciple，andsomanyutterancesofsomanyimaginativepersons，notmine，’

whichIhavesincewrittenaccordingtoaschemelessextravagant，andscalelessimpracticable，thanwereventureduponinthiscrudepreliminarysketchasketchthat，onreviewal，appearsnotaltogetherwideofsomehintofthecharacteristicfeaturesofthatparticular`dramatispersona’itwouldfainhavereproduced：

gooddraughtsmanship，however，andrighthandlingwerefarbeyondtheartistatthattime。“Thesebehardwords。Nocriticwilleveradventureuponsosevereacensureof“Pauline“：mostcapablejudgesagreethat，withallitsshortcomings，itisaworkofgenius，andthereforeevertobeheldtreasurableforitsownsakeaswellasforitssignificance。

*Probablyfromthefactof“Richmond“havingbeenaddedtothedateattheendoftheprefaceto“Pauline“，havearisenthefrequentmisstatementsastotheBrowningfamilyhavingmovedwestfromCamberwellinorshortlybefore1832。

Mr。R。BarrettBrowningtellsmethathisfather“neverlivedatRichmond，andthatthatplacewasconnectedwith`Pauline’，whenfirstprinted，asamystification。“