Robert Browning
(1812–1889)

In Victorian England, clubs to promote the works of the masters of English literature were fairly common. In 1881, a group of amateur scholars banded together to found another such club, the Browning Society. What made this literary club unique was that the poet is paid tribute to was living. Yet if honor in this form came unusually early to Robert Browning, then fame came unusually late, for it was not until nearly a half century after the publication of his first book that the public came to recognize a genius.

Robert Browning was born in London and spent the first 28 years of his life there. Like Tennyson, he was educated mainly at home, spending much of his time during the early years in his father's large library. He immersed himself in art, history, literature, philosophy, religion, music, medicine and zoology. At 21 Browning published his first book, Pauline, a highly personal record of his religious skepticism, no doubt influenced by the writings of Shelley. Discouraged by the book's poor critical reception, Browning tried his hand next at something less personal, publishing Paracelsus, a long dramatic poem, in 1835. Failing again to please the critics, he turned to drama and two years later he produced Strafford, which closed after five performances.

Despite his inability to establish himself in the public eye as a writer to be reckoned with, Browning was all the while shaping the distinctive dramatic voice that would ensure his eventual fame. In Dramatic Lyrics (1842), Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845), and Man and Woman (1855), he reveals a rich and varied talent in both the short lyrical poem and the dramatic monologue.

In 1846 he married Elizabeth Barrett, a poet whose fame greatly exceeded his own. They established a home in Florence, Italy, a setting that figured in many of Browning's works. The marriage was an extremely happy one, and when his wife died in 1861, Browning, unable to face constant reminders of her in Florence, returned to London. Here, he soon became a popular figure, especially among university students, who were attracted to his next book, Dramatis Personnae (1868), which was hailed as the most "profound spiritual treasure that England has produced since the day of Shakespeare." Based on an actual seventeenth-century Italian murder trial, this long poem comprises ten dramatic monologues.

Browning's dramatic monologues have greatly influenced many twentieth-century poets. Today, he is admired not only for these complex psychological portraits, but also for his masterly blending of natural speech rhythms with strict poetic forms.

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