ItwouldbenodifficulttasktodevoteavolumelargerthanthepresentonetothedescriptiveanalysisofnonebutthepoemsinspiredbyItaly，Italianpersonagesandhistory，ItalianPainting，Sculpture，Architecture，andMusic。FromPorphyriaandherlovertoPompiliaandallthedirefulRomantragedywhereinsheisasamoonofbeautyaboveconflictingsavagetidesofpassion，whatanunparalleledgalleryofportraits，whatabrilliantphantasmagoria，whatamovementofintensestlife!
　　Itispleasanttoknowofoneofthem，“TheItalianinEngland“，thatBrowningwasproud，becauseMazzinitoldhimhehadreadthispoemtocertainofhisfellow-exilesinEnglandtoshowhowanEnglishmancouldsympathisewiththem。
　　AfterleavingRussiatheyoungpoetspenttherestofhis`Wanderjahr’
　　inItaly。AmongotherplaceshevisitedwasAsolo，thatwhitelittlehill-townoftheVeneto，whencehedrewhintsfor“Sordello“and“PippaPasses“，andwhitherhereturnedinthelastyearofhislife，aswithunconscioussignificancehehimselfsaid，“onhiswayhomeward。“
　　Inthesummerof1834，thatis，whenhewasinhistwenty-secondyear，hereturnedtoCamberwell。“Sordello“hehadinsomefashionbegun，buthadsetasideforapoemwhichoccupiedhimthroughouttheautumnof1834andwinterof1835，“Paracelsus“。Inthisperiod，also，hewrotesomeshortpoems，twoofthemofparticularsignificance。
　　Thefirstoftheserieswasasonnet，whichappearedabovethesignature`Z’
　　intheAugustnumberofthe`MonthlyRepository’for1834。
　　Itwasneverreprintedbytheauthor，whosejudgmentitisimpossiblenottoapproveaswellastorespect。
　　Browningneverwroteagoodsonnet，andthisearliesteffortisnotthemostfortunate。Itwasinthe`Repository’also，in1835and1836，thattheotherpoemsappeared，fourinall。
　　Thesongin“PippaPasses“，beginning“AKinglivedlongago，“
　　wasoneofthese；andthelyric，“Stillailing，wind？
　　Wiltbeappeasedorno？“afterwardsrevisedandincorporatedin“JamesLee“，wasanother。Butthetwowhicharemuchthemostnoteworthyare“JohannesAgricola“and“Porphyria“。Evenmoredistinctivelythanin“Pauline“，intheirnovelsentiment，newmethod，andgenerallyuniquequality，isanewvoiceaudibleinthesetwopoems。
　　Theyareveryremarkableastheworkofsoyoungapoet，andareinterestingasshowinghowrapidlyhehadoutgrowntheinfluenceofanyotherofhispoetickindred。“JohannesAgricola“issignificantasbeingthefirstofthosedramaticstudiesofwarpedreligiosity，ofstrangeself-sophistication，whichhaveaffordedsomuchmatterforthought。Initsdramaticconcision，itscomplexpsychologicalsignificance，anditsunique，iftounaccustomedearssomewhatbarbaric，poeticbeauty，“Porphyria“isstillmoreremarkable。
　　Itmaybeofthistime，thoughpossiblysomeyearslater，thatMrs。Bridell-Foxwrites：“Irememberhimaslookinginoftenintheevenings，havingjustreturnedfromhisfirstvisittoVenice。
　　Icannottellthedateforcertain。HewasfullofenthusiasmforthatQueenofCities。Heusedtoillustratehisglowingdescriptionsofitsbeauties，thepalaces，thesunsets，themoonrises，byamostoriginalkindofetching。Takingupabitofstraynotepaper，hewouldholditoveralightedcandle，movingthepaperaboutgentlytillitwascloudilysmokedover，andthenutilisingthedarkersmearsforclouds，shadows，water，orwhatnot，wouldetchwithadrypentheformsoflightsoncloudandpalace，onbridgeorgondolaonthevagueanddreamysurfacehehadproduced。MyownpassionatelongingtoseeVenicedatesfromthosedelightful，well-rememberedeveningsofmychildhood。“
　　“Paracelsus“，begunaboutthecloseofOctoberorearlyinNovember1834，waspublishedinthesummerofthefollowingyear。Itisapoeminblankverse，aboutfourtimesthelengthof“Pauline“，withinterspersedsongs。Theauthordivideditintofivesectionsofunequallength，ofwhichthethirdisthemostextensive：
　　“ParacelsusAspires“；“ParacelsusAttains“；“Paracelsus“；
　　“ParacelsusAspires“；“ParacelsusAttains“。Inaninterestingnote，whichwasnotreprintedinlatereditionsofhisfirstacknowledgedpoem，theauthordissuadesthereaderfrommistakinghisperformanceforoneofaclasswithwhichithasnothingincommon，fromjudgingitbyprinciplesonwhichitwasnotmoulded，andfromsubjectingittoastandardtowhichitwasnevermeanttoconform。
　　Hethenexplainsthathehascomposedadramaticpoem，andnotadramaintheacceptedsense；thathehasnotsetforththephenomenaofthemindorthepassionsbytheoperationofpersonsandevents，orbyrecoursetoanexternalmachineryofincidentstocreateandevolvethecrisissoughttobeproduced。Insteadofthis，heremarks，“Ihaveventuredtodisplaysomewhatminutelythemooditselfinitsriseandprogress，andhavesufferedtheagency，bywhichitisinfluencedanddetermined，tobegenerallydiscernibleinitseffectsalone，andsubordinatethroughout，ifnotaltogetherexcluded：
　　andthisforareason。Ihaveendeavouredtowriteapoem，notadrama。“
　　Alittlefurther，hestatesthataworklike“Paracelsus“depends，foritssuccess，immediatelyupontheintelligenceandsympathyofthereader：
　　“Indeed，weremyscenesstars，itmustbehisco-operatingfancywhich，supplyingallchasms，shallconnectthescatteredlightsintooneconstellationaLyreoraCrown。“
　　Intheconcludingparagraphofthisnotethereisapointofinterest
　　thestatementoftheauthor’shopethatthereadersof“Paracelsus“willnot“beprejudicedagainstotherproductionswhichmayfollowinamorepopular，andperhapslessdifficultform。“FromthisitmightfairlybeinferredthatBrowninghadnotdefinitivelyadoptedhischaracteristicmethod：
　　thathewasfarfromunwillingtogainthegeneralear：andthathewasalerttothedifficultiesofpopularisationofpoetrywrittenonlinessimilartothoseof“Paracelsus“。Norwouldthisinferencebewrong：
　　for，asamatteroffact，thepoet，immediatelyuponthepublicationof“Paracelsus“，determinedtodevotehimselftopoeticworkwhichshouldhavesodirectacontactwithactuallifethatitsappealshouldreacheventothemostuninitiateinthemysteriesanddelightsofverse。
　　InhisearlyyearsBrowninghadalwaysagreatlikingforwalkinginthedark。
　　AtCamberwellhewaswonttocarrythislovetothepointoflosingmanyanight’srest。Therewas，inparticular，awoodnearDulwich，whitherhewaswonttogo。Therehewouldwalkswiftlyandeagerlyalongthesolitaryandlightlessbyways，findingapotentstimulustoimaginativethoughtinthehappyisolationthusenjoyed，withalltheconcurrentdelightsofnaturalthings，thewindmovinglikeaspiritthroughthetree-branches，thedriftingofpoignantfragrances，eveninwinter-tide，fromherbandsappybark，imperceptiblealmostbythealertestsenseintheday’smanifolddetachments。Atthistime，too，hecomposedmuchintheopenair。Thisherarely，ifever，didinlaterlife。
　　Notonlymanyportionsof“Paracelsus“，butseveralscenesin“Strafford“，wereenactedfirstinthesemidnightsilencesoftheDulwichwoodland。Here，too，asthepoetoncedeclared，hecametoknowtheserenebeautyofdawn：
　　foreverynowandagain，afterhavingreadlate，orwrittenlong，hewouldstealquietlyfromthehouse，andwalktillthemorningtwilightgradedtothepearlandamberofthenewday。
　　AsinchildhoodtheglowofdistantLondonhadaffectedhimtoapleasurethatwasnotwithoutpain，perhapstoapainratherthatwasafinedelirium，soinhisearlymanhoodtheneighbourhoodofthehugecity，feltinthosemidnightwalksofhis，andapprehendedmorebythetransmutiveshudderofreflectedglarethrownfadinglyupwardagainstthestars，thanbyanymoredirectvisionorevenfar-borneindeterminatehum，dominatedhisimagination。Atthatdistance，inthosecircumstances，humanitybecamemorehuman。Andwiththethought，theconsciousnessofthisimperativekinship，arosethevaguedesire，thehighresolvetobenocuriousdilettanteinnovelliteraryexperiments，buttocompelaninterpretativeunderstandingofthiscomplexhumanenvironment。
　　Thosewhoknewthepoetintimatelyareawareofthelovingregardhealwayshadforthosenocturnalexperiences：butperhapsfewrecognisehowmuchweowetothesubtleinfluencesofthatcongenialisolationhewaswonttoenjoyonfortunateoccasions。
　　Itisnotmyintentionitwould，obviously，beafutileone，ifentertainedtoattemptananalysisorelaboratecriticismofthemanypoems，longandshort，producedbyRobertBrowning。
　　Notonevolume，butseveral，ofthissize，wouldhavetobeallottedtotheadequateperformanceofthatend。Moreover，ifreadersareunableorunwillingtobetheirownexpositors，thereareseveraltrustworthyhand-bookswhichareeasilyprocurable。
　　Someone，Ibelieve，haseven，withunselfishconsiderationfortheweakerbrethren，turned“Sordello“intoproseasuperfluoustask，somescoffersmayexclaim。Personally，Icannotbutthinkthiscrazefortheexpositionofpoetry，thispassionfor“dissectingarainbow“，isharmfultotheindividualaswellashumiliatingtothehighofficeofPoetryitself，andnotinfrequentlyitisludicrous。
　　Imustbecontentwithafewwordsanentthemoreimportantorsignificantpoems，andinduecourseattemptanestimatebyabroadsynthesis，andnotbycumulativecriticalanalyses。
　　IntheselectionofParacelsusastheheroofhisfirstmaturepoem，Browningwasguidedfirstofallbyhiskeensympathywiththescientificspiritthespiritofdauntlessinquiry，ofquenchlesscuriosity，ofasearchingenthusiasm。PietroofAbano，GiordanoBruno，Galileo，wereheroeswhomheregardedwithanadmirationwhichwouldhavebeenboundlessbutforthewisesympathywhichenabledhimtoapprehendandunderstandtheirweaknessesaswellastheirloftyqualities。OncehavingcometotheconclusionthatParacelsuswasagreatandmuchmalignedman，itwasnaturalforhimtowishtoportrayarightthefeatureshesawloomingthroughthemistsoflegendandhistory。Butoverandabovethis，hehalfunwittingly，halfconsciously，feltthefascinationofthatmysticismassociatedwiththenameofthecelebratedGermanscientist
　　amysticism，inallitsvariousphases，ofwhichheisnowacknowledgedtobethesubtlestpoeticinterpreterinourlanguage，though，profoundasitsattractionalwayswasforhim，neverwaspoetwithamoreexquisitebalanceofintellectualsanity。