Itwouldbeimpossibleforthemostindolentreaderorcritictoattributeit，evenifanonymous，toanotherparentage。ColeridgealludessomewheretocertainversesofWordsworth’s，withthedeclarationthatifhehadmetthemhowlinginthedeserthewouldhaverecognisedtheirauthorship。
“Fifine“wouldnotevenhavetohowl。
BrowningwasvisitingPorniconeautumn，whenhesawthegipsywhowastheoriginalof“Fifine“。InthewordsofMrs。Orr，“hisfancywasevidentlysetroamingbythegipsy’saudacity，herstrength
thecontrastwhichshepresentedtothemorespiritualtypesofwomanhood；
andthiscontrasteventuallyfoundexpressioninapathetictheoryoflife，inwhichtheseoppositetypesandtheircorrespondingmodesofattractionbecamethenecessarycomplementofeachother。Ashelaiddownthetheory，Mr。Browningwouldbespeakinginhisownperson。Buthewouldturnintosomeoneelseintheactofworkingitoutforitinsensiblycarriedwithitapleaforyieldingtothoseoppositeattractions，notonlysuccessively，butatthesametime；andamodifiedDonJuanwouldgrowupunderhispen。“
OnedrawbacktoanunconditionalenjoymentofBalzacisthateverynowandagainthestudentofthe`ComedieHumaine’
resentsthetooobviousdisplayoftheforcesthatpropeltheeffect
alesserphaseofthewearinesswhichensuesuponmuchreadingofthemere“humandocuments“oftheGoncourtschoolofnovelists。
Inthesameway，wetoooftenseeBrowningworkinguptheelectricalqualities，sothat，whenthefulminationcomes，weunderstand“justhowitwasproduced，“and，asillogicallyaschildrenbeforeatooelaborateconjurer，concludethatthereisnotsomuchinthisparticularpoeticfeatasinotherswhich，likeHerrick’smaids，continuallydodeceive。Tomethisisaffirmableof“FifineattheFair“。
Thepoetseemstoknowsoverywellwhatheisdoing。
Ifhedidnottakethereadersomuchintohisconfidence，ifhewouldrelymoreupontheliberalgraceofhisearlierverseandlessuponthetrainedsubtletyofhisathleticintellect，thecharmwouldbethegreater。Thepoemwouldhaveasurerdurationasoneoftheauthor’sgreaterachievements，ifthereweremorefrequentandmoreprolongedinsistenceonthenotestruckinthelinesSection73aboutthehill-stream，infantofmistanddew，fallingovertheledgeofthefissuredclifftofinditsfateinsmokebelow，asitdisappearsintothedeep，“embitteredevermore，tomaketheseaonedropmorebigthereby：“
orinthecloudysplendourofthedescriptionofnightfallSection106：
orinthewindyspringfreshnessof“Hence，whentheearthbeganafreshitslifeinMay，Andfruit-treesbloomed，andwaveswouldwanton，andthebayRuffleitswealthofweed，andstranger-birdsarrive，Andbeaststakeeachamate。“……
Butitschieffaultseemstometobeitslackofthattransmutiveglowofrhythmicemotionwithoutwhichnopoemcanendure。
Thisrhythmicenergyis，inherently，adistinctthingfromintellectualemotion。Metricmusicmaybealientotheadequateexpressionofthelatter，whereasrhythmicemotioncanhavenootherappropriateissue。Ofcourse，inasense，allcreativeartisrhythmicinkind：buthereIamspeakingonlyofthatcreativeenergywhichevolvesthegerminalideathroughthemediumoflanguage。Theenergyoftheintellectundercreativestimulusmayproducelordlyissuesinprose：
butpoetryofahighintellectualordercanbetheoutcomeonlyofanintellectfusedtowhiteheat，ofintellectualemotiononfire
as，inthefinesayingofGeorgeMeredith，passionisnoblestrengthonfire。
Innumerableexamplescouldbetakenfromanypartofthepoem，butasitwouldnotbejusttoselectthemostobviouslydefectivepassages，herearetwowhicharecertainlyfairlyrepresentativeofthegenerallevel
“AndIbecameaware，scarcelythewordescapedmylips，thatswiftensuedinsilenceandbystealth，andyetwithcertitude，aformidablechangeoftheamphitheatrewhichheldtheCarnival；
ALTHOUGHTHEHUMANSTIRCONTINUEDJUSTTHESAME
AMIDTHATSHIFTOFSCENE。“No。105
“Andwherei’theworldisallthiswonder，youdetailsotrippingly，espied？Mymirrorwouldreflectatall，thin，pale，deep-eyedpersonage，prettyonce，itmaybe，doubtlessstilllovingacertaingraceyetlingersifyouwillbutallthiswonder，where？“No。40
Here，andinahundredothersuchpassages，wehavetherhythm，ifnotofthebestprose，atleastnotthatofpoetry。
Will“Fifine“andpoemsofitskindstandre-reading，re-perusaloverandover？Thatisoneofthemostdefinitetests。
Inthepressureoflifecanweaffordmuchtimetoanythingbuttheverybestnay，tothevastmassevenofthatwhichcloselyimpingesthereupon？
Formyself，intheinstanceof“Fifine“，Iadmitthatifre-perusalbecontrolledbypleasureIamcontentalwaysexceptingafewscatterednoblepassageswiththePrologueandEpilogue。
AlittlevolumeofthoseSummariesofBrowning’showstimulatingacompanionitwouldbeinthosehourswhenthemindwouldfainbreatheamoreliberalair!
Asfor“Jocoseria“，*itseemstomethepoorestofBrowning’sworks，andIcannothelpthinkingthatultimatelytheonlygoldgraindiscoverablethereinwillbe“Ixion“，thebeautifulpenultimatepoembeginning
“NeverthetimeandtheplaceAndthelovedonealtogether；“
andthethrush-likeoverture，closing
“Whatoftheleafage，whatoftheflower？
Rosesemboweringwithnoughttheyembower!
Comethen!completeincompletion，Ocomer，Pantthroughtheblueness，perfectthesummer!
BreathebutonebreathRose-beautyabove，AndallthatwasdeathGrowslife，growslove，Growslove!“
*Inalettertoafriend，alongwithanearlycopyofthisbook，Browningstatedthat“thetitleistakenfromtheworkofMelander`Schwartzmann’，reviewed，byacuriouscoincidence，inthe`Blackwood’ofthismonth。Ireferredtoitinanoteto`Paracelsus’。ThetwoHebrewquotationsputintogiveagravelooktowhatismerefunandinvention
beingtranslatedamountto1`ACollectionofManyLies’：
and2，anoldsaying，`FromMosestoMosesarosenonelikeMoses’……“
In1881the“BrowningSociety“wasestablished。Itiseasytoridiculeanyinstitutionofthekindmucheasierthantobeconsiderateofotherpeople’searnestconvictionsandaims，ortobehelpfultotheirobject。
Thereisalwaysaridiculoussidetoexcessiveenthusiasm，particularlyobvioustopersonsincapableofenthusiasmofanykind。
Withsomemistakes，andnotafewmoreorlessgrotesqueabsurdities，themembersofthevariousEnglishandAmericanBrowningSocietiesareyettobecongratulatedonthegoodworktheyhave，collectively，accomplished。
Theirpublicationsaremostinterestingandsuggestive：
ultimatelytheywillbeinvaluable。ThemembershavealsodoneagoodworkincausingsomeofBrowning’splaystobeproducedagainonthestage，andinMissAlmaMurrayandothershavefoundsympatheticandableexponentsofsomeofthepoet’smostattractive`dramatispersonae’。
TherecanbenoquestionastothepowerfulimpetusgivenbytheSocietytoBrowning’ssteadily-increasingpopularity。Nothingshowshisjudiciousgoodsensemorethantheletterhewrote，privately，toMr。EdmundYates，atthetimeoftheSociety’sfoundation。
“TheBrowningSociety，Ineednotsay，aswellasBrowninghimself，arefairgameforcriticism。Ihadnomoretodowiththefoundingitthanthebabeunborn；and，asWilkeswasnoWilkeite，IamquiteotherthanaBrowningite。ButIcannotwishharmtoasocietyof，withafewexceptions，namesunknowntome，whoarebusiedaboutmybookssodisinterestedly。Theexaggerationsprobablycomeofthefifty-years’-longchargeofunintelligibilityagainstmybooks；suchreactionsarepossible，thoughIneverlookedforthebeginningofonesosoon。
Thatthereisagrotesquesidetothethingiscertain；
butIhavebeensurprisedandtouchedbywhatcannotbuthavebeenwellintentioned，Ithink。Anyhow，asIneverfeltinconveniencedbyhardwords，youwillnotexpectmetowaxbumptiousbecauseofunduecompliment：soenoughof`Browning’，
exceptthatheisyoursverytruly，`whilethismachineistohim。’“