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CONTENTS.

...

...

...

How they brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix1 (16—).
"I sprang to the stirrup: " 10 stanzas of 6 four-measure anapæstic
lines each, aabbcc: 60 lines. (The MS. is, or was, in the library of
J. T. Fields, Boston, U. S. A.)
Pictor Ignotus. Florence, 15-. ("I could have painted pictures
like that youth's: " 5-measure alternates. 72 iambic lines)
Italy in England. "That second time they hunted me: 4-measure
couplet-rymes. 162 iambic lines. (Cald in 1849: "The Italian in
England")
England in Italy. Piano di Sorrento. "Fortù, Fortù, my loved
one: 5 sections. 292 lines in fours, abcb; a, c, 3-measure, b,
2-measure. Anapæsts and iambs. (Cald in 1849: "The English-
man in Italy" 2)

...

...

...

The Lost Leader.3 "Just for a handful of silver he left us: 2 st.
of 16, abab, cded, fghg, ijkj; 4-measure. 32 dactylic lines
The Lost Mistress. "All's over, then: 5 verses of 4, alternates,
abab; a, 4-measure; b, 3-measure: iambs and anapæsts ...
Home Thoughts from Abroad

Page

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5

8

8

8

40, 41 I. "Oh, to be in England:" 1 stanza of 8, and 1 of 12.4 II. "Here's
to Nelson's Memory:" 6 couplets and a triplet, 4-measure: mixt
trochees, iambs, and anapæsts. (In Poet. Works, 1863, i. 12, and
1868, vol. iii, p. 86, put after "Claret and Tokay" under
"Nationality in Drinks.") III. "Nobly Cape St. Vincent:'
1 stanza of 7 eight-measure trochaic lines in -ay
The Tomb at St. Praxed's; blank verse. 122 lines
Garden Fancies

I. The Flower's Name. "Here's the garden she walked across :
6 stanzas of 8, abab, cdcd, 4-measure. 48 lines ...

1 "There is no sort of historical foundation about 'Good News to [that is, from] Ghent.' I wrote it under the bulwark of a vessel, off the African Coast [when on a yachting trip in the Mediterranean], after I had been at sea long enough to appreciate even the fancy of a gallop on the back of a certain good horse York,' then in my stable at home. It was written in pencil on the fly-leaf of Bartoli's Simboli, I remember." R. B.'s letter of Jan. 23, 1881 (? to an American correspondent), in Academy, April 2, 1881, from the Boston Literary World. In st. iv. the sch of 'Aerschot' is pronounct sk. (The poem has been reprinted in Routledge's Popular Readings, &c.)

"The good news" suppozed is that of the Pacification of Ghent,' which was welcomd with great delight, because it was believd to end the desperate struggle between Spain and the United Netherlands. See Motley's "Rise of the United Netherlands," vol. iii, Pt I.-Boston Literary World.

2 Note in the last lines Browning's wonder that English stupidity could be great enough to doubt whether abolishing the abominable Corn-Laws was wise or not. 3 Wordsworth, having turnd Tory, was chiefly aimd at here; but other men and incidents were mixt up with him and his career. The excellent review of Browning's prose Essay and Works to 1864 in the Contemporary Review, Jan. and Feb. 1867, well says in its second Paper, p. 135, "We know not what individual leader, if any, Mr. Browning had in view; but if the early admirers of the French Revolution had wished to utter their hearts over the Toryism of Wordsworth or Southey, or the Chartists and Christian Socialists of 1848 over Mr. Kingsley's panegyric on the peerage and his vindication of martial law ad libitum, they could hardly find fitter language.' Though both offences have long been condoned, they were none the less grievous at the time to the two Writers' liberal friends, as I—one of the old Christian Socialists-can witness as to Kingsley.

St. 1 is abab (3-measure), cc, dd, 4-measure, except d 2 two-measure. eefgfg, hhiijj; ee, 4-measure, h 2 three-measure, the rest 5-measure.

BROWNING 2.

St. 2 is

E

Page

(30)

II. Sibrandus Schafnaburgensis. "Plague take all pedants, say
I!" 9 stanzas of 8, abab, cdcd, 4-measure. 72 lines
France and Spain

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11

(26)

11

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11

I. The Laboratory (Ancien Régime). "Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly: 12 double couplets, 4-measure. 48 lines II. The Confessional. "It is a lie-their Priests, their Pope': 13 stanzas of 6 (each 3 rymed couplets), 4-measure iambs. 78 lines (33a,33b) The Flight of the Duchess: 16 Sections: 10-16 new, lines 217-926, in twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, and a single, 1. 838 in § 16, with internal ryme, 'mellowness, yellowness.' 926 mainly iambic lines Earth's Immortalities. I. "See, as the prettiest graves:" 8 lines, in 5-measure iambic rymed couplets. II. "So the year's done with : 1 stanza of 9, abab, cbcbb, 2-measure, a trochee and amphibrach (or dactylic). 17 lines

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45

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Song. "Nay, but you, who do not love her: " 2 stanzas of 6, ababcc,
4-measure. 12 trochaic and iambic lines

The Boy and the Angel. "Morning, evening, noon and night:"
38 iambic ryme-couplets. In Poet. Works, 1863, vol. i, p. 169
(1868, vol. iv. p. 160), a fresh couplet is put in after "And ever
lived on earth content," namely:-

Night and Morning. I. Night: 2 stanzas of 6, abccba, 4-measure, iambs and anapæsts. "The grey sea," &c. II. Morning: 4 lines, abba, 4-measure, anapæsts and iambs. "Round the Cape." (In 1863, I. is calld "Meeting at Night;" II. "Parting at Morning.") (27,28) Claret and Tokay. I. My heart sunk with our Claret-flask :" 2 stanzas of 6. II. "Up jumped Tokay on our table: 17 lines. (These, followd by (41) "Here's to Nelson's Memory" (Beer), are groupt together as Nationality in Drinks" in Poet. Works, 1863,

i. 12; 1868, iii. 85-6.)
Saul. (Part the First, only, § 1-9, lines 1-102 (less line 10: see note 1,
p. 55, below), 5-measure anapastic ryme-couplets with 4 triplets:
10 Sections (10-19, lines 103-341) added in Men and Women, ii,
1855.) "Said Abner, 'At last thou art come! (accentual penta-
meter)

Time's Revenges: "I've a Friend, over the sea" 33 sections, in
couplet-rymes, 66 lines: one couplet 3-measure; 32, four-measure :
iambs and anapæsts

...

The Glove (Peter Ronsard loquitur). "Heigho,' yawned one day
King Francis: 10 sections, 188 lines, 3-measure, rymed couplets,

dactylic...

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BELLS AND POMEGRANATES.

(X, XI.) No. VIII. and Last.-LURIA; and A SOUL'S TRAGEDY. By Robert Browning, Author of "Paracelsus." London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street. MDCCCXLVI. p. 1-32. Price 28. 6d. Dedication of "These last attempts for the present at Dramatic Poetry" to Walter Savage Landor, dated March 1846.

29,

1A French rhymed translation of The Confessional appeared as "Le Confessional (Espagne)" in 'Beautés de la Poësie Anglaise, par le Chevalier de Chatelain,’ vol. v.

London, Rolandi, 1872.'-S.

51 LURIA A Tragedy in Five Acts. Time 14-. p. 2-20. Act I, 392 lines; II, 354 lines; III, 399 lines; IV, 329 lines; V, 338 lines. In all, 1812 lines. Blank verse.

52

A SOUL'S TRAGEDY. Part First (p. 23-6), being what was called the Poetry of Chiappino's Life; and Part Second (p. 27-32), its Prose. (Part I or Act I, blank verse, 401 lines; Part II or Act II, prose, 648 lines: together, 1049 lines.)

Forewords (not reprinted) to "A Soul's Tragedy" :—

"Here ends my first Series of Bells and Pomegranates,' and I take the opportunity of explaining, in reply to inquiries, that I only meant by that title to indicate an endeavour towards something like an alternation, or mixture, of music with discoursing, sound with sense, poetry with thought; which looks too ambitious, thus expressed, so the symbol was preferred. It is little to the purpose, that such is actually one of the most familiar of the many Rabbinical (and Patristic) acceptations of the phrase; because I confess that, letting authority alone, I supposed the bare words, in such juxtaposition, would sufficiently convey the desired meaning. Faith and good works' is another fancy, for instance, and perhaps no easier to arrive at yet Giotto placed a pomegranate fruit in the hand of Dante, and Raffaelle crowned his Theology (in the Camera della Segnatura) with blossoms of the same; as if the Bellari and Vasari would be sure to come after, and explain that it was merely' simbolo delle buone opere -il qual Pomogranato fu però usato nelle vesti del Pontefice appresso gli Ebrei. R. B."

[1846, Sept. 12, Browning (34) married, at St. Mary-le-bone parish church, our greatest poetess, Elizabeth Barrett Barrett,1 aged 37; and on March 9, 1849, was born her " own young Florentine," the artist Robert Barrett Browning. Before this time she wrote of her husband: "He is preparing a new edition of his collected poems, in which he pays peculiar attention to the objections made against certain obscurities."-Univ. Mag., March, 1879, p. 333.]

1849 POEMS by Robert Browning. In two volumes. Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. [Only Paracelsus and Bells and Pomegranates.]

A new

1849.

Forewords: "Many of these pieces were out of print, the rest had been withdrawn from circulation, when the corrected edition, now submitted to the reader, was prepared. The various Poems and Dramas have received the author's most careful revision. December, 1848.”—pp. i-viii, 1-386.

1 The surname is given as Moulton-Barrett in the Univ. Mag., March, 1879, p. 330.

Contents: vol. i. (2) Paracelsus, p. 1. (7) Pippa Passes. A (8) King Victor and King Charles. A

Drama, p. 163.
Tragedy, p. 231.

(25) Colombe's Birthday. A Play, p. 303. Vol. ii. (24) A Blot in the Scutcheon. A Tragedy, p. 1. (23) The Return of the Druses. A Tragedy, p. 61. (51) Luria. A Tragedy, p. 139. (52) A Soul's Tragedy, p. 211. Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, p. 253: 38 of the 41 pieces1 in Bells and Pomegranates, nos. III. and VII, namely:—

(36) The Italian in England

1850 (XII.) CHRISTMAS-EVE AND EASTER-DAY.

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Robert Browning. London: Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. 1850. p. i-iv, 1-142, 143-4 blank. Christmas-Eve,2 22 Sections, 2259 lines, in couplets, fours (abba and abab), a 3, a 6, a 7, and 2 singles. Easter-Day, 33 Sections, 1040 lines, in couplets, 3 singles,3 and a triplet. Both poems, 4-measure, 3299 lines, mainly iambic, with anapæsts, amphibrachs, &c. (Written at 'Florence, 1850.' Works, 1863, iii. 163.)

1 The 3 poems left out are the Drink ones (27) Claret, (28) Tokay, (41) Beer ("Here's to Nelson's Memory ").

2 The Congregationalists say that Browning sat for some years under the ministry of one of their preachers, Thomas Jones, an able and eloquent Welshman.

3 Two other single lines in the 1850 edition noted by Mr. Carson, E.-Day, § xxvi, p. 129, were, I find, turnd into a couplet in the 1863 ed., Works, iii. 242:

1850

Of beauty in this life. And pass

Life's line,-and what has earth to do

1863

Of beauty in this life. But through 823
Life pierce, and what has earth to do

1852 [25 Spurious] Letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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With AN

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY by Robert Browning. London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street. 1852. p. i-vi, 1-165. Introductory Essay, p. 1-44 (on the objective and subjective poet; on the relation of the latter's life to his work; on Shelley, his nature, art, and character: so interesting and important that I have, with Browning's leave, reprinted it as the First of The Browning Society's Papers, 1881. See p. 70, below). 1855 MEN AND WOMEN. By Robert Browning. In two Volumes. London: Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. 1855. Vol. i, p. i-iv, 1-260; vol. ii, p. i-iv, 1-241. (Written in 'London and Florence, 184-, 185-.'1)

CONTENTS.-VOL. I.

Love among the Ruins. "Where the quiet-coloured end of even-
ing." 14 stanzas of 6 lines each, aa, bb, cc, the first line of each
couplet 6-measure, the second line 2-measure. 84 trochaic lines
A Lover's Quarrel. "Oh, what a dawn of day!" 22 stanzas of 7,
aa, bb, ccc; bb 2-measure, the rest 3-. 154 anapæstic lines
Evelyn Hope. "Beautiful Evelyn Hope is dead." 7 stanzas of 8,
abab, cdcd, 4-measure. 56 anapæstic and iambic lines

...

Up at a Villa-Down in the City. (As distinguished by an Italian
Person of Quality.) "Had I but plenty of money." 10 stanzas,
6-measure. 64 lines. (St. I, a triplet in are; II, a triplet in
-east; III, a quatrain in -ull, -ool; IV, a six in y; V, two
couplets; VI, a couplet, and a triplet (in -ell); VII, a five in -ash;
VIII, two couplets and a triplet (in -ill); IX, a triplet in -in, and
seven couplets; X, six couplets.) Dactyls and anapæsts

...

A Woman's Last Word. "Let's contend no more, Love." 10
verses of 4, abab; a, 3-measure; b, 2-measure. 40 trochaic lines
Fra Lippo Lippi. "I am poor brother Lippo." Blank verse (except
the 6 stornelli, lines 53-7, 68-9, 110-111, 238-9, 248-9, which are
couplet-ryme, the first line being 2-meas., the second 4-). 392 lines
A Toccata of Galuppi's. “Oh, Galuppi, Baldassaro.”
15 eight-
measure trochaic triplets. 45 lines
By the Fire-Side. "How well I know what I mean to do." 53
stanzas of 5, ababa, 4-measure, except a 3, which is 2-measure.
265 anapæstic and iambic lines

...

...

Any Wife to any Husband. 'My love, this is the bitterest." 21
stanzas of 6, aab, ccb, 5-measure iambics. 126 lines
An Epistle concerning the strange Medical Experience of Karshish,
the Arab Physician. (On Lazarus after his Resurrection.) "Kar-
shish, the picker-up of learning's crumbs." Blank verse. 312 lines
Mesmerism. "All I believed is true!" 27 stanzas of 5, abbaa;
a, 3-measure; b, 2-measure. Anapæsts and iambs. 135 lines. (See
A Lovers' Quarrel, st. 11)

Page

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63

81

90

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*,67

A Serenade at the Villa. "That was I, you heard last night." 12
stanzas of 5, ababa, 4-measure. 60 trochaic lines
My Star. "All that I know." 1 stanza of 13 lines, abab, cdcdd,
efef; first 8 lines 2-measure; last 5, five-measure: anapæstic

1 From the Tauchnitz Selections. The Works, 1868, have only "Florence, 185-," v. 205. Browning evidently had a hand in these Tauchnitz Selections.