EpiloguetoPacchiarottovolume；Prologueto“LaSaisiaz“；
Prologueto“TwoPoetsofCroisic“；“Epilogue“；“Pheidippides“；
“HalbertandHob“；“IvanIvanovitch“；“Echetlos“；“Muleykeh“；
“PanandLuna“；“Touchhimne’ersolightly“；Prologueto“Jocoseria“；
“CristinaandMonaldeschi“；“MaryWollstonecraftandFuseli“；“Ixion“；
“NevertheTimeandthePlace“；Song，“Roundusthewildcreatures“；
Song，“Wishnowordunspoken“；Song，“Yougropedyourway“；Song，“ManIam“；
Song，“OnceIsaw“；“Verse-making“；“NotwithmySoulLove“；
“Asknotoneleastwordofpraise“；“Whyfromtheworld“；
“TheRoundofDay“Pts。9，10，11，12ofGerarddeLairesse；
Prologueto“Asolando“；“Rosny“；“Now“；“Poetics“；“SummumBonum“；
“APearl“；“Speculative“；“Inapprehensiveness“；“TheLadyandthePainter“；
“BeatriceSignorini“；“ImperanteAugusto“；“Rephan“；“Reverie“；
Epilogueto“Asolando“inall，122。
Buthavingdrawnupthisimaginaryanthology，possiblywithfaultsofcommissionandprobablywithworseerrorsofomission，Ishouldliketotakethereaderintomyconfidenceconcerningacertainvolume，originallycompiledformyownpleasure，thoughnotwithoutthoughtofoneortwodearkinsmenofascatteredBrotherhood
avolumehalfthesizeoftheprojectedTranscripts，andrareasthatstarinthetipofthemoon’shornofwhichColeridgespeaks。
`Flowero’theVine’，soitiscalled，hasfordouble-mottothesetwolinesfromtheEpiloguetothePacchiarottovolume
“Man’sthoughtsandlovesandhates!
Earthismyvineyard，thesegrewthere“
andthesewords，alreadyquoted，fromtheShelleyEssay，“Iprefertolookforthehighestattainment，notsimplythehigh。“
I。From“Pauline“*1*1。“Sun-treader，lifeandlightbethineforever!“2。TheDawnofBeauty；3。Andromeda；4。Morning。
II。“HeapCassia，Sandal-buds，“etc。songfrom“Paracelsus“。
III。“OvertheSeaourGalleyswent“songfrom“Paracelsus“。
IV。TheJoyoftheWorld“Paracelsus“。*2*V。From“Sordello“
1。Sunset；*3*2。TheFugitiveEthiop；*4*3。Dante。*5*
VI。OttimaandSebaldPt。1，“PippaPasses“。VII。JulesandPhenePt。2，“PippaPasses“。VIII。MyLastDuchess。IX。InaGondola。
X。HomeThoughtsfromAbroad1and2。XI。MeetingatNight：
PartingatMorning。XII。AGrammarian’sFuneral。
XIII。Saul。XIV。RabbiBenEzra。XV。LoveamongtheRuins。
XVI。EvelynHope。XVII。MyStar。XVIII。AToccataofGaluppi’s。
XIX。AbtVogler。XX。Memorabilia。XXI。AndreadelSarto。
XXII。TwointheCampagna。XXIII。JamesLee’sWife。XXIV。Prospice。
XXV。From“TheRingandtheBook“1。OLyricLoveTheInvocation：
26lines；2。Caponsacchill。2069to2103；3。Pompiliall。181to205；
4。Pompiliall。1771to1845；5。ThePopell。2017to2228；
6。CountGuidoBook11，ll。2407to2427。XXVI。Prologueto“LaSaisiaz“……Prologueto“TwoPoetsofCroisic“。XXVIII。Epilogueto“TwoPoetsofCroisic“。XXIX。NevertheTimeandPlace……“RoundustheWildCreatures，“etc。songfrom“Ferishtah’sFancie。“TheWalk“Pts。9，10，11，12，of“GerarddeLairesse“……“Onewordmore“ToE。B。B。。*6*
*1*Thefirst，fromthelinequoted，extendsthrough55lines
“Toseetheeforamomentasthouart。“No。2consistsofthe18linesbeginning，“Theycametomeinmyfirstdawnoflife。“No。3，the11linesoftheAndromedapicture。No。4，the59linesbeginning，“Night，andonesingleridgeofnarrowpath“to“delight“。
*2*No。IV。comprisesthe29linesbeginning，“Thecentrefireheavesunderneaththeearth，“downto“ancientrapture。“
*3*No。V。The6linesbeginning，“Thatautumnerehasstilled。“
*4*The22linesbeginning，“As，shallIsay，someEthiop。“
*5*The29linesbeginning，“Forhe，forhe。“
*6*Tothese32selectionstheremustnowbeadded“Now“，“SummumBonum“，“Reverie“，andthe“Epilogue“，from“Asolando“。
ItishereIwillnotsayin`Flowero’theVine’，norevenventuretorestrictivelyaffirmitofthatlargerandfullercompilationwehaveagreed，forthemoment，tocall“TranscriptsfromLife“
itishere，intheworthiestpoemsofBrowning’smostpoeticperiod，that，itseemstome，hishighestgreatnessistobesought。
Inthese“MenandWomen“heis，inmoderntimes，anunparalleleddramaticpoet。Theinfluenceheexercisesthroughthese，andtheincalculablycumulativeinfluencewhichwillleavenmanygenerationstocome，isnottobelookedforinindividualsonly，butinthewholethoughtoftheage，whichhehasmouldedtonewform，animatedanew，andtowhichhehasimpartedafreshstimulus。
ForthisadeepdebtisduetoRobertBrowning。Butoverandabovethisshapingforce，thismanipulativepoweruponcharacterandthought，hehasenrichedourlanguage，ourliterature，withanewwealthofpoeticdiction，hasaddedtoitnewsymbols，hasenabledustoinhaleamoreliberalifanunfamiliarair，has，aboveall，raisedustoafreshstandpoint，astandpointinvolvingourconstructionofanewdefinition。
Here，atleast，weareonassuredground：here，atanyrate，werealisethescopeandqualityofhisgenius。But，letmehastentoadd，he，athishighest，notbeingofthosewhowouldmakeImaginationthehandmaidoftheUnderstanding，hasgivenusalsoaDoradoofpurepoetry，ofpricelessworth。Triedbytheseveresttests，notmerelyofsubstance，butofform，notmerelyofthemelodyofhighthinking，butofrareandpotentverbalmusic，thelargernumberofhis“MenandWomen“poemsareastreasurableacquisitions，inkind，toourliterature，astheshorterpoemsofMilton，ofShelley，ofKeats，andofTennyson。
Butonceagain，andfinally，letmerepeatthathisprimaryimportancenotgreatness，butimportanceisinhavingforcedustotakeupanovelstandpoint，involvingourconstructionofanewdefinition。
Thereare，inliteraryhistory，few`scenesdelavieprivee’
moreaffectingthanthatofthegreatestofEnglishpoetesses，inthematurityofherfirstpoeticperiod，lying，likeafadingflower，forhours，fordayscontinuously，inadarkenedroominaLondonhouse。
SoillwasMissElizabethBarrett，earlyinthesecondhalfoftheforties，thatfewfriends，herselfeven，couldventuretohopeforasingleoneofthoseSpringswhichsheprevisionedsolongingly。
Tous，lookingbackatthisperiod，inthelightofwhatweknowofastoryofsingularbeauty，thereisanaddedpathosinthecircumstancethat，asthesingerofsomanyexquisitesongslayonherinvalid’ssofa，dreamingofthingswhich，asshethought，mightneverbe，allthatwasloveliestinherlifewasfastapproaching
though，likealljoy，notwithoutanequallyunlooked-forsorrow。
“Ilivedwithvisionsformycompany，insteadofmenandwomen……
northoughttoknowasweetermusicthantheyplayedtome。“
Thisisnottheoccasion，andifitwere，therewouldstillbeimperativeneedforextremeconcision，whereontodwellupontheearlylifeofElizabethBarrettBrowning。TheparticularsofitarefamiliartoallwholoveEnglishliterature：forthereis，intruth，notmuchtotellnotmuch，atleast，thatcanwellbetold。
Itmustsuffice，here，thatMissBarrettwasbornonthe4thofMarch1809，*
andsowasthesenior，bythreeyears，ofRobertBrowning。
*Shouldbe1806。SeenoteinTableofContents。A。L。，1996。
By1820，inremoteHerefordshire，thenotyeteleven-year-oldpoetesshadalready“criedaloudonobsoleteMusesfromchildishlips“
invarious“nascentodes，epics，anddidactics。“Atthistime，shetellsus，theGreekswereherdemi-gods，andshedreamtmuchofAgamemnon。
Inthesameyear，insuburbanCamberwell，alittleboywasoftenwonttolisteneagerlytohisfather’snarrativeofthesamehero，andtoallthemovingtaleofTroy。Itissignificantthatthesetwochildren，sofarapart，bothwiththelightofthefutureupontheirbrows，grewupinfamiliaritywithsomethingoftheantiquebeauty。
Itwasalifelongjoytoboth，that“sereneairofGreece“。
Manyanhourofgloomwascharmedawaybyitforthepoetesswhotranslatedthe“PrometheusBound“ofAeschylus，andwrote“TheDeadPan“：
manyahappydayandmemorablenightwerespentinthat“belovedenvironment“
bythepoetwhowrote“Balaustion’sAdventure“andtranslatedthe“Agamemnon“。
Thechiefsorrowofherlife，however，occurredinherthirty-firstyear。
Sheneverquiterecoveredfromtheshockofherwell-lovedbrotherEdward’stragicdeath，amysteriousdisaster，forthefounderingofthelittleyacht`LaBelleSauvage’isalmostasinexplicableasthatofthe`Ariel’
intheSpezzianwatersbeyondLerici。Notonlythroughtheensuingwinter，butofteninthedreamsofafteryears，“thesoundofthewavesranginmyearslikethemoansofonedying。“
TheremovaloftheBarretthouseholdtoGloucesterPlace，inWesternLondon，wasagreatevent。Here，invalidthoughshewas，shecouldseefriendsoccasionallyandgetnewbooksconstantly。