“Thus，allmylife，Itouchafairythingthatfadesandfades。
Eventomybabe!Ithought，whenhewasborn，Somethingbeganforoncethatwouldnotend，Norchangeintoalaughatme，butstayForevermore，eternallyquitemine“
oncemore
“OnecannotjudgeOfwhathasbeentheillorwelloflifeThedaythatoneisdying……
Nowitisover，andnodangermore……
TomeatleastwasnevereveningyetButseemedfarbeautifullerthanitsday，Forpastispast“
Lovely，again，arethelinesinwhichshespeaksofthefirst“thrillofdawn’ssuffusionthroughherdark，“
the“lightoftheunbornfacesentlongbefore：“orthoseuniquelinesofthestarvedsoul’sSpringll。1512-27：orthose，ofthebirthofherlittleone
“Awholelongfortnight；inalifelikemineAfortnightfilledwithblissislongandmuch。
Allwomenarenotmothersofaboy……
IneverrealisedGod’sbirthbefore
HowhegrewlikestGodinbeingborn。
ThistimeIfeltlikeMary，hadmybabeLyingalittleonmybreastlikehers。“
Whenshehasweariedly，yetwithsurpassingtriumph，sighedoutherlastwords
“GodstoopingshowssufficientofHislightForusi’thedarktoriseby。AndIrise“
whodoesnotrealisethattolife’sendheshallnotforgetthatplaintivevoice，sopoignantlysweet，thatineffabledyingsmile，thosewistfuleyeswithsomuchlessofearththanheaven？
Butthetwosucceeding“books“aremoretiresomeandmoreunnecessarythanthemostinferiorofthethreeopeningsectionsthefirstofthetwo，indeed，isintolerablywearisome，adesolateboulder-strewngorgeafterthesweetairandsunlitsummitsof“Caponsacchi“and“Pompilia“。
Inthenext“book“InnocentXII。isrevealed。Allthissectionhasaloftyserenity，unsurpassedinitskind。Itmustbereadfromfirsttolastforitsfulleffect，butImayexcerptonepassage，thehigh-watermarkofmodernblank-verse：
“ForthemaincriminalIhavenohopeExceptinsuchasuddennessoffate。
IstoodatNaplesonce，anightsodarkIcouldhavescarceconjecturedtherewasearthAnywhere，skyorseaorworldatall：
Butthenight’sblackwasburstthroughbyablaze
Thunderstruckblowonblow，earthgroanedandbore，Throughherwholelengthofmountainvisible：
Therelaythecitythickandplainwithspires，And，likeaghostdisshrouded，whitethesea。
Somaythetruthbeflashedoutbyoneblow，AndGuidosee，oneinstant，andbesaved。“
Finallycomesthatthrobbing，terriblelast“book“wherethemurdererfindshimselfbroughttobayandknowsthatallislost。
Whocanforgetitsunparalleledclose，whenthewolf-likeGuidosuddenly，inhissupremeagony，transcendshislostmanhoodinonedespairingcry
“Abate，Cardinal，Christ，Maria，God，……
Pompilia，willyouletthemmurderme？“
Lastly，theEpilogueroundsoffthetale。ButisthisEpiloguenecessary？
Surelythecloseshouldhavecomewiththewordsjustquoted？
Itwillnotbeafterafirstperusalthatthereaderwillbeabletoarriveatadefiniteconviction。Noindividualorcollectiveestimateofto-daycanbeacceptedasfinal。Thosewhocomeafterus，perhapsnotthenextgeneration，northenextagain，willsee“TheRingandtheBook“
freeofallthemanifoldandcomplexconsiderationswhichconfuseourjudgment。Meanwhile，eachcanonlyspeakforhimself。
Tomeitseemsthat“TheRingandtheBook“is，regardedasanartisticwhole，themostmagnificentfailureinourliterature。Itenshrinespoetrywhichnootherthanourgreatestcouldhavewritten；
ithasdepthstowhichmanyoffarinferiorpowerhavenotdescended。
Surelythepoemmustbejudgedbythebalanceofitssuccessandfailure？
Itisinnopresumptuousspirit，butoutofmyprofoundadmirationofthislong-lovedandoften-read，thissuperbpoem，thatI，forone，wishitcomprisedbutthePrologue，thePleaofGuido，“Caponsacchi“，“Pompilia“，“ThePope“，andGuido’slastDefence。
Icannothelpthinkingthatthisistheforminwhichitwillbereadintheyearstocome。Thuscircumscribed，itseemstometoberoundedandcomplete，agreatworkofartvoidofthedross，themeredebriswhichthetrueartistdiscards。Butasitis，inallitslordlypoeticstrengthandflaggingimpulse，isitnot，afterall，thetrueclimactericofBrowning’sgenius？
“TheInnAlbum“，adramaticpoemofextraordinarypower，hassomuchmoremarkedlythedefectsofhisqualitiesthatItakeittobe，attheutmost，thepoiseofthefirstgradualrefluence。
ThisanalogyofthetidalebbandflowmaybeobservedwithsingularaptnessinBrowning’slife-workthetidethatfirstmovedshorewardinthelovelinessof“Pauline“，and，with“longwithdrawingroar，“
ebbedinslow，justperceptiblelapsetothepoet’spenultimatevolume。
Asfor“Asolando“，Iwouldratherregarditasthegatheringofanewwave
nay，againrather，asthedeepsoundofoceanwhichtheoutwardsurgehasreached。
ButformyselfIdonotaccept“TheInnAlbum“asthefirsthesitantswingofthetide。Iseemtoheartheresilientundertoneallthroughthelongslowpoiseof“TheRingandtheBook“。
Wherethenisthefullsplendourandrushofthetide，whereitsculminatingreachandpower？
Ishouldsayin“MenandWomen“；andby“MenandWomen“
Imeannotmerelythepoemscomprisedinthecollectionsoentitled，butallinthe“DramaticRomances“，“Lyrics“，andthe“DramatisPersonae“，alltheshortpiecesofacertainintensityofnoteandqualityofpower，tobefoundinthelatervolumes，from“Pacchiarotto“to“Asolando“。
Andthisbecause，inthewordsofthepoethimselfwhenspeakingofShelley，Iprefertolookforthehighestattainment，notsimplythehigh
and，seeingit，toholdbyit。YetIamnotobliviousofthemassofBrowning’sloftyachievement，“tobeknownenduringlyamongmen，“
anachievement，evenonitssecondarylevel，sohigh，thatarounditsimperfectproportions，“themostelaboratedproductionsofordinaryartmustarrangethemselvesasinferiorillustrations。“
HowamItoconveyconciselythatwhichitwouldtakeavolumetodoadequatelyanideaoftherichestefflorescenceofBrowning’sgeniusintheseunfadingbloomswhichwewillagreetoincludein“MenandWomen“？
Howbettercertainlyitwouldbeimpossibletobemoresuccinct
thanbytheenumerationofthecontentsofanimaginedvolume，tobecalled，say“TranscriptsfromLife“？
Itwouldbetosomeextent，butnotrigidly，arrangedchronologically。
Itwouldbeginwiththatmasterpieceofpoeticconcision，whereawholetragedyisburnedinuponthebraininfifty-sixlines，“MyLastDuchess“。Thenwouldfollow“InaGondola“，thathauntinglyricaldrama`inpetto’，wheretheloverisstabbedtodeathashisheartisbeatingagainstthatofhismistress；“Cristina“，withitskeenintrospection；thosedelightfullystirringpieces，the“CavalierTunes“，“ThroughtheMetidjatoAbd-el-Kadr“，and“ThePiedPiperofHamelin“；“TheFlower’sName“；
“TheFlightoftheDuchess“；“TheTombatSt。Praxed’s“，thepoemwhicheducedRuskin’senthusiasticpraiseforitsmarvellousapprehensionofthespiritoftheMiddleAges；“PictorIgnotus“，and“TheLostLeader“。
Butasthereisnotspaceforindividualdetail，andasmanyofthemoreimportantarespokenofelsewhereinthisvolume，Imusttakethereader’sacquaintancewiththepoemsforgranted。
So，followingthosefirstmentioned，therewouldcome“HomeThoughtsfromAbroad“；“HomeThoughtsfromtheSea“；
“TheConfessional“；“TheHeretic’sTragedy“；“Earth’sImmortalities“；
“MeetingatNight：PartingatMorning“；“Saul“；“Karshish“；
“ADeathintheDesert“；“RabbiBenEzra“；“AGrammarian’sFuneral“；
“LoveAmongtheRuins“；Song，“Naybutyou“；“ALover’sQuarrel“；
“EvelynHope“；“AWoman’sLastWord“；“FraLippoLippi“；
“BytheFireside“；“AnyWifetoAnyHusband“；“ASerenadeattheVilla“；
“MyStar“；“APrettyWoman“；“ALightWoman“；“LoveinaLife“；
“LifeinaLove“；“TheLastRideTogether“；“AToccataofGaluppi’s“；
“MasterHuguesofSaxeGotha“；“AbtVogler“；“Memorabilia“；
“AndreaDelSarto“；“Before“；“After“；“InThreeDays“；“InaYear“；
“OldPicturesinFlorence“；“DeGustibus“；“WomenandRoses“；
“TheGuardianAngel“；“Cleon“；“TwointheCampagna“；“OneWayofLove“；
“AnotherWayofLove“；“Misconceptions“；“MayandDeath“；“JamesLee’sWife“；
“DisAliterVisum“；“TooLate“；“Confessions“；“Prospice“；“YouthandArt“；
“AFace“；“ALikeness“；“ApparentFailure“。EpiloguetoPartI。
“OLyricVoice“，etc。，fromendofFirstPartof“TheRingandtheBook“。
PartII。“HerveRiel“；“Amphibian“；“EpiloguetoFifine“；
“PisgahSights“；“NaturalMagic“；“MagicalNature“；“Bifurcation“；
“Numpholeptos“；“Appearances“；“St。Martin’sSummer“；“AForgiveness“；