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。