n Parnassus on which his noble Shadow sits
to-day, unchallenged in our time save by that other Shadow with whom, in
reverence and love, we have been perhaps too bold to contrast him.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] I state it roughly. The _Poems of Two Brothers_ appeared in 1826,
Tennyson's first single volume in 1830, his second in 1833, his last in
1892. Browning's first poem was issued in 1833, his last in 1890.
_Paracelsus_, in which his genius clearly disclosed itself, was
published in 1835, while Tennyson, seven years later, proved his
mastership in the two volumes of 1842.

[2] _A Death in the Desert_ touches on the doubts which, when it was
written, had gathered from historical criticism round the subject matter
of the Gospels, but the prophetic answer of St. John is not critical. It
is Browning's personal reply to the critics, and is based on his own
religious philosophy. The critical part of the argument is left
untouched, and the answer is given from the poet's plane. It is the same
when in the _Parleyings with Certain People_ Furini is made to embody
Browning's belief in a personal God in contradistinction with the mere
evolutionist. He does not argue the points. He places one doctrine over
against the other and bids the reader choose. Moreover, he claims his
view as his own alone. He seeks to impose it on no one.

[3] Much has been said of the humour of Browning. But it is rather wit
than humour which we perceive. The gentle pathos which belongs to
humour, the pitiful turn of the humourist upon himself, his smile at his
own follies and those of mankind, the half light, like that of evening,
in which humour dwells, are wanting in Browning. It is true he has the
charity of humour, though not its pathetic power. But, all the same, he
is too keen, too brilliant, too fierce at times for a humourist. The
light in which we see the foolish, fantastic, amusing or contemptible
things of life is too bright for humour. He is a Wit--with charity--not
a humourist. As for Tennyson, save in his Lincolnshire poems and _Will
Waterproof's Soliloquy_, he was strangely devoid either of humour or of
wit.

* * * * *

CHAPTER II

_THE TREATMENT OF NATURE_

It is a difficult task to explain or analyse the treatment of Nature by
Browning. It is easy enough to point out his remarkable love of her
colour, his vivid painting of brief landscapes, his minute observation,
his flashing way of description,