in 1890, strikes the same chords, but more
feebly, which _Paracelsus_ struck in 1835.

But though, in this lofty apartness and self-unity, Browning and
Tennyson may fairly be said to be at one, in themselves and in their
song they were different. There could scarcely be two characters, two
musics, two minds, two methods in art, two imaginations, more distinct
and contrasted than those which lodged in these men--and the object of
this introduction is to bring out this contrast, with the purpose of
placing in a clearer light some of the peculiar elements in the poetry
of Browning, and in his position as a poet.

1. Their public fate was singularly different. In 1842 Tennyson, with
his two volumes of Collected Poems, made his position. The _Princess_,
in 1847, increased his reputation. In 1850, _In Memoriam_ raised him,
it was said, above all the poets of his time, and the book was
appreciated, read and loved by the greater part of the English-speaking
world. The success and popular fame which now followed were well
deserved and wisely borne. They have endured and will endure. A host of
imitators, who caught his music and his manner, filled the groves and
ledges which led up to the peak on which he lived. His side of Parnassus
was thronged.

It was quite otherwise with his brother-poet. Only a few clear-eyed
persons cared to read _Paracelsus_, which appeared in 1835. _Strafford_,
Browning's first drama, had a little more vogue; it was acted for a
while. When _Sordello_, that strange child of genius, was born in 1840,
those who tried to read its first pages declared they were
incomprehensible. It seems that critics in those days had either less
intelligence than we have, or were more impatient and less attentive,
for not only _Sordello_ but even _In Memoriam_ was said to be
exceedingly obscure.

Then, from 1841 to 1846, Browning published at intervals a series of
varied poems and dramas, under the title of _Bells and Pomegranates_.
These, one might imagine, would have grasped the heart of any public
which had a care for poetry. Among them were such diverse poems as
_Pippa Passes_; _A Blot in the 'Scutcheon_; _Saul_; _The Pied Piper of
Hamelin_; _My Last Duchess_; _Waring_. I only mention a few (all different
in note, subject and manner from one another), in order to mark the
variety and range of imaginative power displayed in this wonderful set
of little books. The Bells of poetry's music, hung side by side with
the g