Nodoubt，inlyingonthesand-dunesinthegoldenSeptemberglow，inlookinguponthetheresomewhatturbidcurrentoftheLoire，thepoetbroodedonthosedayswhenhesawitsinlandwaterswithherwhowaswithhimnolongersaveindreamsandmemories。
Herehewrotethatstirringpoem，“HerveRiel“，foundeduponthevalorousactionofaFrenchsailorwhofrustratedthenavalmightofEngland，andclaimednothingasarewardsavepermissiontohaveaholidayonlandtospendafewhourswithhiswife，“labelleAurore“。“HerveRiel“whichhasbeentranslatedintoFrench，andisoftenrecited，particularlyinthemaritimetowns，andisalwaysevocativeofenthusiasticapplauseisoneofBrowning’sfinestaction-lyrics，andisassuredofthesameimmortalityas“HowtheybroughttheGoodNewsfromGhenttoAix“，orthe“PiedPiper“himself。
In1872therewaspracticalproofofthepoet’sgrowingpopularity。
BaronTauchnitzissuedtwovolumesofexcellentlyselectedpoems，comprisingsomeofthebestof“MenandWomen“，“DramatisPersonae“，and“DramaticRomances“，besidesthelonger“Soul’sTragedy“，“Luria“，“InaBalcony“，and“ChristmasEveandEasterDay“
themostChristianpoemofthecentury，accordingtooneeminentcleric，theheterodoxself-sophisticationofafree-thinker，accordingtoanother：
really，thereflexofagreatcrisis，thatofthefirstmovementofthetideofreligiousthoughttoapracticallylimitlessfreedom。
Thiseditionalsocontained“BishopBlougram“，thenmuchdiscussed，apartfromitspoeticandintellectualworth，onaccountofitssupposedverisimilitudeinportraitureofCardinalWiseman。
Thiscomposition，oneofBrowning’smostcharacteristic，issocleverthatitisscarcelyapoem。PoetryandClevernessdonotwellagree，themusebeingalreadyunitedinperfectmarriagetoImagination。
InhisEssayonTruth，BaconsaysthatoneoftheFatherscalledpoetry`VinumDaemonum’，becauseitfilleththeimagination。
Certainlyifitbenot`vinumdaemonum’itisnotPoetry。
Inthisyearalsoappearedthefirstseriesof“Selections“
bythepoet’slatestpublishers：“DedicatedtoAlfredTennyson。
InPoetryillustriousandconsummate：InFriendshipnobleandsincere。“
Itwasinhisprefacetothisselectionthathewrotetheoften-quotedwords：
“NordoIapprehendanymorechargesofbeingwilfullyobscure，unconscientiouslycareless，orperverselyharsh。“Atoraboutthedateofthese“Selections“thepoetwrotetoafriend，onthisverypointofobscurity，“IcanhavelittledoubtthatmywritinghasbeeninthemaintoohardformanyIshouldhavebeenpleasedtocommunicatewith；butIneverdesignedlytriedtopuzzlepeople，assomeofmycriticshavesupposed。Ontheotherhand，Ineverpretendedtooffersuchliteratureasshouldbeasubstituteforacigaroragameatdominoestoanidleman。
Soperhaps，onthewhole，Igetmydeserts，andsomethingover
notacrowd，butafewIvaluemore。“
In1877Browning，everrestlessforpasturesnew，wentwithhissistertospendtheautumnatLaSaisiazSavoyardfor“thesun“，avillaamongthemountainsnearGeneva；thistimewiththeadditionalcompanyofMissAnneEgertonSmith，anintimateandvaluedfriend。
Buttherewasanunhappyclosetotheholiday。MissSmithdiedonthenightofthefourteenthofSeptember，fromheartcomplaint。
“LaSaisiaz“isthedirectoutcomeofthisincident，andisoneofthemostbeautifulofBrowning’slaterpoems。
Itstrochaicsmovewithatide-likesound。
Attheclose，thereisalinewhichmightstandasepitaphforthepoet
“He，atleast，believedinSoul，wasverysureofGod。“
Inthefollowingyear“LaSaisiaz“waspublishedalongwith“TheTwoPoetsofCroisic“，whichwasbegunandpartlywrittenatthelittleFrenchvillagetenyearspreviously。
Thereisnothingoftheeight-scorestanzasofthe“TwoPoets“
toequalitsdelightfulepilogue，ortheexquisiteprefatorylyric，beginning“SuchastarvedbankofmossTillthatMay-mornBluerantheflashacross：
Violetswereborn。“
ExtremelyinterestingandformyselfIcannotfind“TheTwoPoetsofCroisic“tobeanythingmorethan“interesting“
itisasapoemdistinctlyinferiorto“LaSaisiaz“。
Althoughdetachedlinesareoftenfarfromtrulyindicativeoftherealpoeticstatusofalongpoem，whereproportionandharmonyareofmoreimportancethancasualexfoliationsofbeauty，yettoacertainextenttheydoserveasmusicalkeysthatgivethefundamentaltone。OnecertainlywouldhavetosearchinvaintofindintheCroisicpoemsuchlinesas“Fiveshortdays，scarceenoughtoBronzetheclusteredwildingapple，reddenripethemountainash。“
OrtheseofMontBlanc，seenatsunset，toweringovericypinnaclesandteeth-likepeaks，“Blanc，supremeabovehisearth-brood，needlesredandwhiteandgreen，Hornsofsilver，fangsofcrystalsetonedgeinhisdemesne。“
Or，again，thisofthesunswinginghimselfabovethedarkshoulderofJura
“Gayhehailsher，andmagnific，thrilledherblacklengthburnstogold。“
Or，finally，thissoundingverse
“Pastthecity’scongregatedpeaceofhomesandpompofspires。“
Theotherpoemslaterthan“TheRingandtheBook“are，broadlyspeaking，oftwokinds。Ontheonesidemayberangedthegroupswhichreallycoherewith“MenandWomen“。Theseare“TheInnAlbum“，themiscellaneouspoemsofthe“Pacchiarotto“volume，the“DramaticIdyls“，someof“Jocoseria“，andsomeof“Asolando“。“Ferishtah’sFancies“and“Parleyings“arenot，collectively，dramaticpoems，butpoemsofilluminativeinsightguidedbyadramaticimagination。*They，andtheclassicalpoemsandtranslationsrenderings，rather，byonewhoseownindividualitydominatesthemtotheexclusionofthatNEARNESSoftheoriginalauthor，whichitshouldbetheprimaryaimofthetranslatortoevoke，thebeautiful“Balaustion’sAdventure“，“Aristophanes’Apology“，and“TheAgamemnonofAeschylus“，andthethirdgroup，whichcomprises“PrinceHohenstiel-Schwangau“，“RedCottonNightcapCountry“，and“FifineattheFair“thesethreegroupsareofthesecondkind。
*Inalettertoafriend，Browningwrote：“IhopeandbelievethatoneortwocarefulreadingsofthePoem[Ferishtah’sFancies]
willmakeitssenseclearenough。Aboveall，prayallowforthePoet’sinventivenessinanycase，anddonotsupposethereismorethanathindisguiseofafewPersiannamesandallusions。
TherewasnosuchpersonasFerishtahthestoriesareallinventions……TheHebrewquotationsareputinforapurpose，asadirectacknowledgmentthatcertaindoctrinesmaybefoundintheOldBook，whichtheConcoctersofNovelSchemesofMoralityputforthasdiscoveriesoftheirown。“
Remarkableasarethethreelast-namedproductions，itisextremelydoubtfulifthefirstandsecondwillbereadforpleasurebyreadersbornafterthecloseofthiscentury。Asitisimpossible，inmynarrowlimits，togointoanydetailaboutpoemswhichpersonallyIdonotregardasessentialtothetruestunderstandingofBrowning，thetruestbecauseonthehighestlevel，thatofpoetryasdistinctfromdogma，orintellectualsuasionofanykindthatmight，forallitsaestheticcharm，beinproseitwouldbepresumptuoustoassertanythingderogatoryofthemwithoutattemptingadequatesubstantiation。Ican，therefore，merelystatemyownopinion。Toreiterate，itisthat，fordifferentreasons，thesethreelongpoemsareforedoomedtooblivionnot，ofcourse，tobelosttothestudentofourliteratureandofourage，amorewonderfuloneeventhanthatoftheRenaissance，buttolapsefromthegeneralregard。Thateachwillforalongtimefindappreciativereadersiscertain。Theyhaveafascinationforalertminds，andtheyhavenotinfrequentramificationswhichareworthpursuingfortheglimpsesaffordedintoanalwaysevanishingPromisedLand。
“PrinceHohenstiel-Schwangau“thename，bytheway，isnotpurelyfanciful，beingformedfromHohenSchwangau，oneofthecastlesofthelateKingofBavariaisBrowning’scomplementtohiswife’s“OdetoNapoleonIII。““RedCottonNightcapCountry“
isatruestory，thenarrativeofthecircumstancespertinenttothetragicdeathofoneAntonioMellerio，aParisjeweller，whichoccurredin1870atSt。AubininNormandy，where，indeed，thepoetfirstheardofitinallitsdetails。Itisastorywhich，ifthemethodofpoetryandthemethodofprosecouldforamomentbeacceptedasequivalent，mightbesaidtobeoftheschoolofalightandhumorouslygrotesqueZola。Ithasthefundamentalweaknessof“TheRingandtheBook“theweaknessofaninadequateethicalbasis。
Itis，indeed，tothatgreatworkwhatasecond-ratenoveletteistoamasterpieceoffiction。
“FifineattheFair“，ontheotherhand，issopowerfulandoftensobeautifulapoemthatonewouldberashindeedwerehe，withtheblithecriticalassurancewhichissogenerallysnuffedoutlikeauselesscandlebyalatergeneration，toprognosticateitsinevitableseclusionfromthehighplaceitatpresentoccupiesintheestimateofthepoet’smostuncompromisingadmirers。
Butsurelyequallyrashistheassertionthatitwillbethe“poemofthefuture“。However，ourconcernisnotwithproblematicalestimates，butwiththepoemasitappearstoUS。
ItisoneofthemostcharacteristicofBrowning’sproductions。