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。“