a play,
from which arose the idea of "Strafford"; his acquaintance with
Wordsworth and Landor; MS. of "Strafford" accepted; its performance at
Covent Garden Theatre on the 26th May 1837; runs for five nights; the
author's comments; the drama issued by Messrs. Longman & Co.; the
performance in 1886; estimate of "Strafford"; Browning's dramas;
comparison between the Elizabethan and Victorian dramatic eras;
Browning's soul-depictive faculty; his dramatic method; estimate of his
dramas; Landor's acknowledgment of the dedication to him of "Luria".
Page 73.

CHAPTER V.

"Profundity" and "Simplicity"; the faculty of wonder; Browning's first
conception of "Pippa Passes"; his residence in London; his country
walks; his ways and habits, and his heart-episodes; debates whether to
become a clergyman; is "Pippa Passes" a drama? estimate of the poem;
Browning's rambles on Wimbledon Common and in Dulwich Wood, where he
composed his lines upon Shelley; asserts there is romance in Camberwell
as well as in Italy; "Sordello"; the charge of obscurity against
"Sordello"; the nature and intention of the poem; quotations therefrom;
anecdote about Douglas Jerrold; Tennyson's, Carlyle's, and M. Odysse
Barot's opinions on "Sordello"; "enigmatic" poetry; in 1863 Browning
contemplated the re-writing of "Sordello"; dedication to the French
critic, Milsand. Page 93.

CHAPTER VI.

Browning's three great dramatic poems; "The Ring and the Book" his
finest work; its uniqueness; Carlyle's criticism of it; Poetry _versus_
Tour-de-Force; "The Ring and the Book" begun in 1866; analysis of the
poem; kinship of "The Ring and the Book" and "Aurora Leigh"; explanation
of title; the idea taken from a parchment volume Browning picked up in
Florence; the poem planned at Casa Guidi; "O Lyric Love," etc.;
description and analysis of "The Ring and the Book," with quotations;
compared as a poem with "The Inn Album," "Pauline," "Asolando," "Men and
Women," etc.; imaginary volumes, to be entitled "Transcripts from Life"
and "Flowers o' the Vine"; Browning's greatest period; Browning's
primary importance. Page 113.

CHAPTER VII.

Early life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning; born in 1820; the chief sorrow
of her life; the Barrett family settle in London; "The Cry of the
Children" and its origin; Miss Barrett's friends; effect on her of
Browning's poetry; she makes Browning's acquaintance in 1846; her early
belief in him as a poet; her physical delicacy and he