第7章

Onthefly-leafofacopyofthisinitialwork，thepoet，sixyearsafteritspublication，wrote：“WritteninpursuanceofafoolishplanIforget，orhavenowishtoremember；

theworldwasnevertoguessthatsuchanopera，suchacomedy，suchaspeechproceededfromthesamenotableperson……

OnlythiscrabremainsoftheshapelyTreeofLifeinmyfool’sParadise。“

Itwasinconformitywiththisplanthathenotonlyissued“Pauline“anonymously，butenjoinedsecrecyuponthosetowhomhecommunicatedthefactofhisauthorship。

Whenhereadthepoemtohisparents，uponitsconclusion，bothweremuchimpressedbyit，thoughhisfathermadeseverestricturesuponitslackofpolish，itsterminalinconcision，anditsvaguenessofthought。

Thathewasnotmoreseverewasacceptedbyhissonashighpraise。

Theauthorhad，however，littlehopeofseeingitinprint。

Mr。Browningwasnotanxioustoprovideapublisherwithapresent。

Soonedaythepoetwasgratifiedwhenhisaunt，handinghimtherequisitesum，remarkedthatshehadheardhehadwrittenafinepoem，andthatshewishedtohavethepleasureofseeingitinprint。

Tothiskindlyactmuchwasdue。Browning，ofcourse，couldnotnowhavebeendissuadedfromthecareerhehadforecastforhimself，buthisprogressmighthavebeenretardedorthwartedtolessfortunategrooves，haditnotbeenforthecircumstancesresultantfromhisaunt’stimelygift。

TheMS。wasforthwithtakentoSaunders&Otley，ofConduitStreet，andthelittlevolumeofseventypagesofblankverse，comprisingonlyathousandandthirtylines，wasissuedbytheminJanuary1833。

Itseemstous，whoreaditnow，somanifestlyaworkofexceptionalpromise，and，toacertainextent，ofhighaccomplishment，thatwereitnotforthefactthatthepublicauditoryforanewpoetiseverextraordinarilylimited，itwouldbedifficulttounderstandhowitcouldhavebeenoverlooked。

“Pauline“hasauniquesignificancebecauseofitsautopsychicalhints。

TheBrowningwhomweallknow，aswellastheyouthfuldreamer，ishererevealed；heretoo，aswellasthediscipleofShelley，wehavetheauthorof“TheRingandtheBook“。Initthelongseriesculminatingin“Asolando“isforeshadowed，astheoakisobservableinthesapling。ThepoemisprefacedbyaLatinmottofromthe`OccultPhilosophy’ofCorneliusAgrippa，andhasalsoanoteinFrench，setforthasbeingbyPauline，andappendedtoherlover’smanuscriptafterhisdeath。ProbablyBrowningplaceditinthemouthofPaulinefromhisrooteddeterminationtospeakdramaticallyandimpersonally：

andinFrench，soastoheightentheeffectofverisimilitude。*

*“Imuchfearthatmypoorfriendwillnotbealwaysperfectlyunderstoodinwhatremainstobereadofthisstrangefragment，butitislesscalculatedthananyotherparttoexplainwhatofitsnaturecanneverbeanythingbutdreamandconfusion。

Idonotknow，moreover，whetherinstrivingatabetterconnectionofcertainparts，onewouldnotruntheriskofdetractingfromtheonlymerittowhichsosingularaproductioncanpretend

thatofgivingatolerablypreciseideaofthemanner(genre)

whichitcanmerelyindicate。Thisunpretendingopening，thisstirofpassion，whichfirstincreases，andthengraduallysubsides，thesetransportsofthesoul，thissuddenreturnuponhimself，andaboveall，myfriend’squitepeculiarturnofmind，havemadealterationsalmostimpossible。Thereasonswhichheelsewhereasserts，andothersstillmorecogent，havesecuredmyindulgenceforthispaper，whichotherwiseIshouldhaveadvisedhimtothrowintothefire。IbelievenonethelessinthegreatprincipleofallcompositioninthatprincipleofShakespeare，ofRaphael，andofBeethoven，accordingtowhichconcentrationofideasisduemuchmoretotheirconceptionthantotheirexecution；

Ihaveeveryreasontofearthatthefirstofthesequalitiesisstillforeigntomyfriend，andImuchdoubtwhetherredoubledlabourwouldenablehimtoacquirethesecond。Itwouldbebesttoburnthis，butwhatcanIdo？“(Mrs。Orr。)

“Pauline“isaconfession，fragmentaryindetailbutsyntheticinrange，ofayoungmanofhighimpulsesbutweakdetermination。

Initsover-emphasisuponerrorsofjudgment，aswellasuponrealifexaggeratedmisdeeds，ithasallthecrudenessofyouth。

Analmostfantasticself-consciousnessisthecentralmotive：

itisamatterofquestionifthisbeabsolutelyvicarious。

Tomeitseemsthattheauthorhimselfwasatthetimeconfusedbythecomplicatedflashingofthelightsoflife。

Theautobiographicalandautopsychicallinesandpassagesscatteredthroughthepoemareofimmediateinterest。

GenerouslythepoetrepayshisdebttoShelley，whomheapostrophisesas“Sun-treader“，andinvokesinstrainsofloftyemotion

“Sun-treaderlifeandlightbethineforever。“Themusicof“Alastor“，indeed，isaudibleeverandagainthroughout“Pauline“。

Nonethelessisthereanewmusic，anewpoeticvoice，in“Thouwiltrememberonewarmmorn，whenWinterCreptagedfromtheearth，andSpring’sfirstbreathBlewsoftfromthemoisthillstheblack-thornboughs，Sodarkinthebarewood，whenglisteningInthesunshinewerewhitewithcomingbuds，LikethebrightsideofasorrowandthebanksHadvioletsopeningfromsleeplikeeyes。“

IfwehaveanimaginaryBrowning，aShelleyanphantasm，in“IseemedthefatefromwhichIfled；IfeltAstrangedelightincausingmydecay；

Iwasafiend，indarknesschainedforeverWithinsomeocean-wave：“

wehavetherealBrowningin“SoIwillsingonfastasfanciescomeRudelytheversebeingasthemooditpaints。

Iammadeupofanintensestlife，“

andallthesucceedinglinesdownto“Theirspiritdweltinme，andIshouldrule。“

Eventhenthepoet’sinnerlifewasanimatedbyhisloveofthebeautifulGreekliterature。Tellinghowin“thefirstdawnoflife，“

“whichpassedalonewithwisestancientbooks，“Pauline’sloverincorporatedhimselfinwhatsoeverhereadwasthegodwanderingafterbeauty，thegiantstandingvastagainstthesunset-light，thehigh-crestedchiefsailingwithtroopsoffriendstoTenedos

hissecond-selfcries，“Itellyou，noughthaseverbeensoclearastheplace，thetime，thefashionofthoselives。“Neverforhim，then，hadtherebeenthatalchemyofthesoulwhichturnstheinchoatedriftoftheworldintogoldenore，notthenhadcometohimtheelectricawakeningflashfrom“workofloftyart，norwoman’sbeauty，norsweetnature’sface“

“Yet，Isay，nevermornbrokeclearasthoseOnthedimclusteredislesinthebluesea：

Thedeepgroves，andwhitetemples，andwetcaves

Andnothingeverwillsurprisemenow

WhostoodbesidethenakedSwift-footed，WhoboundmyforeheadwithProserpine’shair。“

Further，theallusiontoPlato，andthemoreremoteonetoAgamemnon，the“oldloreLovedforitself，andallitshowstheKingTreadingthepurplecalmlytohisdeath，“

andthebeautifulAndromedapassage，affordampleindicationofhowdeeplyBrowninghaddrunkofthatvitalstreamwhosewatersarethesurestconserveroftheideallovelinesswhichweallofus，insomedegree，cherishinvariousguises。

Yet，asineverylongpoemthathehaswritten(and，itmustbeadmitted，intoomanyoftheshorterpiecesofhislaterperiod)

thereisanalloyofprose，ofsomethingthatisnotpoetry，soin“Pauline“，writtenthoughitwasinthefirstflushofhisgeniusandundertheinspiringstimulusofShelley，thereaderencountersprosaicpassages，decasyllabicallyarranged。“’Twasinmyplantolookonreallife，whichwasallnewtome；mytheorieswerefirm，soIleftthem，tolookuponmen，andtheircares，andhopes，andfears，andjoys；and，asIponderedonthemall，Isoughthowbestlife’sendmightbeattained，anendcomprisingeveryjoy。“

Again：“Thencameapause，andlongrestraintchaineddownmysoul，tillitwaschanged。Ilostmyself，andwereitnotthatIsoloathethattime，IcouldrecallhowfirstIlearnedtoturnmymindagainstitself……atlengthIwasrestored，yetlongtheinfluenceremained；andnoughtbutthestilllifeIled，apartfromall，whichleftmysoultoseekitsolddelights，coulde’erhavebroughtmethusfarbacktopeace。“Noreader，alerttothesubtleandhauntingmusicofrarefiedblankverse(andunlessitberarefieditshouldnotbeputforwardaspoetry)，couldpossiblyaccepttheselinesasexpressionallypoetical。

Itwouldseemasthough，fromthefirst，Browning’searwaskeenerfortheapprehensionthanforthesustainedevocationofthemusicofverse。