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。