第10章

ItwouldbenodifficulttasktodevoteavolumelargerthanthepresentonetothedescriptiveanalysisofnonebutthepoemsinspiredbyItaly，Italianpersonagesandhistory，ItalianPainting，Sculpture，Architecture，andMusic。FromPorphyriaandherlovertoPompiliaandallthedirefulRomantragedywhereinsheisasamoonofbeautyaboveconflictingsavagetidesofpassion，whatanunparalleledgalleryofportraits，whatabrilliantphantasmagoria，whatamovementofintensestlife!

Itispleasanttoknowofoneofthem，“TheItalianinEngland“，thatBrowningwasproud，becauseMazzinitoldhimhehadreadthispoemtocertainofhisfellow-exilesinEnglandtoshowhowanEnglishmancouldsympathisewiththem。

AfterleavingRussiatheyoungpoetspenttherestofhis`Wanderjahr’

inItaly。AmongotherplaceshevisitedwasAsolo，thatwhitelittlehill-townoftheVeneto，whencehedrewhintsfor“Sordello“and“PippaPasses“，andwhitherhereturnedinthelastyearofhislife，aswithunconscioussignificancehehimselfsaid，“onhiswayhomeward。“

Inthesummerof1834，thatis，whenhewasinhistwenty-secondyear，hereturnedtoCamberwell。“Sordello“hehadinsomefashionbegun，buthadsetasideforapoemwhichoccupiedhimthroughouttheautumnof1834andwinterof1835，“Paracelsus“。Inthisperiod，also，hewrotesomeshortpoems，twoofthemofparticularsignificance。

Thefirstoftheserieswasasonnet，whichappearedabovethesignature`Z’

intheAugustnumberofthe`MonthlyRepository’for1834。

Itwasneverreprintedbytheauthor，whosejudgmentitisimpossiblenottoapproveaswellastorespect。

Browningneverwroteagoodsonnet，andthisearliesteffortisnotthemostfortunate。Itwasinthe`Repository’also，in1835and1836，thattheotherpoemsappeared，fourinall。

Thesongin“PippaPasses“，beginning“AKinglivedlongago，“

wasoneofthese；andthelyric，“Stillailing，wind？

Wiltbeappeasedorno？“afterwardsrevisedandincorporatedin“JamesLee“，wasanother。Butthetwowhicharemuchthemostnoteworthyare“JohannesAgricola“and“Porphyria“。Evenmoredistinctivelythanin“Pauline“，intheirnovelsentiment，newmethod，andgenerallyuniquequality，isanewvoiceaudibleinthesetwopoems。

Theyareveryremarkableastheworkofsoyoungapoet，andareinterestingasshowinghowrapidlyhehadoutgrowntheinfluenceofanyotherofhispoetickindred。“JohannesAgricola“issignificantasbeingthefirstofthosedramaticstudiesofwarpedreligiosity，ofstrangeself-sophistication，whichhaveaffordedsomuchmatterforthought。Initsdramaticconcision，itscomplexpsychologicalsignificance，anditsunique，iftounaccustomedearssomewhatbarbaric，poeticbeauty，“Porphyria“isstillmoreremarkable。

Itmaybeofthistime，thoughpossiblysomeyearslater，thatMrs。Bridell-Foxwrites：“Irememberhimaslookinginoftenintheevenings，havingjustreturnedfromhisfirstvisittoVenice。

Icannottellthedateforcertain。HewasfullofenthusiasmforthatQueenofCities。Heusedtoillustratehisglowingdescriptionsofitsbeauties，thepalaces，thesunsets，themoonrises，byamostoriginalkindofetching。Takingupabitofstraynotepaper，hewouldholditoveralightedcandle，movingthepaperaboutgentlytillitwascloudilysmokedover，andthenutilisingthedarkersmearsforclouds，shadows，water，orwhatnot，wouldetchwithadrypentheformsoflightsoncloudandpalace，onbridgeorgondolaonthevagueanddreamysurfacehehadproduced。MyownpassionatelongingtoseeVenicedatesfromthosedelightful，well-rememberedeveningsofmychildhood。“

“Paracelsus“，begunaboutthecloseofOctoberorearlyinNovember1834，waspublishedinthesummerofthefollowingyear。Itisapoeminblankverse，aboutfourtimesthelengthof“Pauline“，withinterspersedsongs。Theauthordivideditintofivesectionsofunequallength，ofwhichthethirdisthemostextensive：

“ParacelsusAspires“；“ParacelsusAttains“；“Paracelsus“；

“ParacelsusAspires“；“ParacelsusAttains“。Inaninterestingnote，whichwasnotreprintedinlatereditionsofhisfirstacknowledgedpoem，theauthordissuadesthereaderfrommistakinghisperformanceforoneofaclasswithwhichithasnothingincommon，fromjudgingitbyprinciplesonwhichitwasnotmoulded，andfromsubjectingittoastandardtowhichitwasnevermeanttoconform。

Hethenexplainsthathehascomposedadramaticpoem，andnotadramaintheacceptedsense；thathehasnotsetforththephenomenaofthemindorthepassionsbytheoperationofpersonsandevents，orbyrecoursetoanexternalmachineryofincidentstocreateandevolvethecrisissoughttobeproduced。Insteadofthis，heremarks，“Ihaveventuredtodisplaysomewhatminutelythemooditselfinitsriseandprogress，andhavesufferedtheagency，bywhichitisinfluencedanddetermined，tobegenerallydiscernibleinitseffectsalone，andsubordinatethroughout，ifnotaltogetherexcluded：

andthisforareason。Ihaveendeavouredtowriteapoem，notadrama。“

Alittlefurther，hestatesthataworklike“Paracelsus“depends，foritssuccess，immediatelyupontheintelligenceandsympathyofthereader：

“Indeed，weremyscenesstars，itmustbehisco-operatingfancywhich，supplyingallchasms，shallconnectthescatteredlightsintooneconstellationaLyreoraCrown。“

Intheconcludingparagraphofthisnotethereisapointofinterest

thestatementoftheauthor’shopethatthereadersof“Paracelsus“willnot“beprejudicedagainstotherproductionswhichmayfollowinamorepopular，andperhapslessdifficultform。“FromthisitmightfairlybeinferredthatBrowninghadnotdefinitivelyadoptedhischaracteristicmethod：

thathewasfarfromunwillingtogainthegeneralear：andthathewasalerttothedifficultiesofpopularisationofpoetrywrittenonlinessimilartothoseof“Paracelsus“。Norwouldthisinferencebewrong：

for，asamatteroffact，thepoet，immediatelyuponthepublicationof“Paracelsus“，determinedtodevotehimselftopoeticworkwhichshouldhavesodirectacontactwithactuallifethatitsappealshouldreacheventothemostuninitiateinthemysteriesanddelightsofverse。

InhisearlyyearsBrowninghadalwaysagreatlikingforwalkinginthedark。

AtCamberwellhewaswonttocarrythislovetothepointoflosingmanyanight’srest。Therewas，inparticular，awoodnearDulwich，whitherhewaswonttogo。Therehewouldwalkswiftlyandeagerlyalongthesolitaryandlightlessbyways，findingapotentstimulustoimaginativethoughtinthehappyisolationthusenjoyed，withalltheconcurrentdelightsofnaturalthings，thewindmovinglikeaspiritthroughthetree-branches，thedriftingofpoignantfragrances，eveninwinter-tide，fromherbandsappybark，imperceptiblealmostbythealertestsenseintheday’smanifolddetachments。Atthistime，too，hecomposedmuchintheopenair。Thisherarely，ifever，didinlaterlife。

Notonlymanyportionsof“Paracelsus“，butseveralscenesin“Strafford“，wereenactedfirstinthesemidnightsilencesoftheDulwichwoodland。Here，too，asthepoetoncedeclared，hecametoknowtheserenebeautyofdawn：

foreverynowandagain，afterhavingreadlate，orwrittenlong，hewouldstealquietlyfromthehouse，andwalktillthemorningtwilightgradedtothepearlandamberofthenewday。

AsinchildhoodtheglowofdistantLondonhadaffectedhimtoapleasurethatwasnotwithoutpain，perhapstoapainratherthatwasafinedelirium，soinhisearlymanhoodtheneighbourhoodofthehugecity，feltinthosemidnightwalksofhis，andapprehendedmorebythetransmutiveshudderofreflectedglarethrownfadinglyupwardagainstthestars，thanbyanymoredirectvisionorevenfar-borneindeterminatehum，dominatedhisimagination。Atthatdistance，inthosecircumstances，humanitybecamemorehuman。Andwiththethought，theconsciousnessofthisimperativekinship，arosethevaguedesire，thehighresolvetobenocuriousdilettanteinnovelliteraryexperiments，buttocompelaninterpretativeunderstandingofthiscomplexhumanenvironment。

Thosewhoknewthepoetintimatelyareawareofthelovingregardhealwayshadforthosenocturnalexperiences：butperhapsfewrecognisehowmuchweowetothesubtleinfluencesofthatcongenialisolationhewaswonttoenjoyonfortunateoccasions。

Itisnotmyintentionitwould，obviously，beafutileone，ifentertainedtoattemptananalysisorelaboratecriticismofthemanypoems，longandshort，producedbyRobertBrowning。

Notonevolume，butseveral，ofthissize，wouldhavetobeallottedtotheadequateperformanceofthatend。Moreover，ifreadersareunableorunwillingtobetheirownexpositors，thereareseveraltrustworthyhand-bookswhichareeasilyprocurable。

Someone，Ibelieve，haseven，withunselfishconsiderationfortheweakerbrethren，turned“Sordello“intoproseasuperfluoustask，somescoffersmayexclaim。Personally，Icannotbutthinkthiscrazefortheexpositionofpoetry，thispassionfor“dissectingarainbow“，isharmfultotheindividualaswellashumiliatingtothehighofficeofPoetryitself，andnotinfrequentlyitisludicrous。

Imustbecontentwithafewwordsanentthemoreimportantorsignificantpoems，andinduecourseattemptanestimatebyabroadsynthesis，andnotbycumulativecriticalanalyses。

IntheselectionofParacelsusastheheroofhisfirstmaturepoem，Browningwasguidedfirstofallbyhiskeensympathywiththescientificspiritthespiritofdauntlessinquiry，ofquenchlesscuriosity，ofasearchingenthusiasm。PietroofAbano，GiordanoBruno，Galileo，wereheroeswhomheregardedwithanadmirationwhichwouldhavebeenboundlessbutforthewisesympathywhichenabledhimtoapprehendandunderstandtheirweaknessesaswellastheirloftyqualities。OncehavingcometotheconclusionthatParacelsuswasagreatandmuchmalignedman，itwasnaturalforhimtowishtoportrayarightthefeatureshesawloomingthroughthemistsoflegendandhistory。Butoverandabovethis，hehalfunwittingly，halfconsciously，feltthefascinationofthatmysticismassociatedwiththenameofthecelebratedGermanscientist

amysticism，inallitsvariousphases，ofwhichheisnowacknowledgedtobethesubtlestpoeticinterpreterinourlanguage，though，profoundasitsattractionalwayswasforhim，neverwaspoetwithamoreexquisitebalanceofintellectualsanity。