s passages of rare beauty set among dreary
commonplaces. He followed this with _Paracelsus_ and _Strafford_,
which opened to him the doors of all London salons and made his
reputation. _Sordello_, one of his most difficult poems, came next,
but he varied these dramatic tragedies with a series of short poems
called _Bells and Pomegranates_. In this the finest thing was _Pippa
Passes_, which was warmly praised by Elizabeth Barrett, who
afterwards became his wife. Among the many poems that Browning
produced in five years were _Colombe's Birthday_, _A Blot in the
'Scutcheon_, _Dramatic Romances and Lyrics_ and _A Soul's Tragedy_.

Browning, in 1846, married Elizabeth Barrett, the author of _Lady
Geraldine's Courtship_ and other poems, a woman who had been an
invalid, confined to her room for years. Love gave her strength to
arise and walk, and love also gave her the courage to defy the foolish
tyranny of her father and elope with Browning. What kind of man that
father was may be seen in his comment after the marriage: "I've no
objection to the young man, but my daughter should have been thinking
of another world." They went to Italy, where for fifteen years they
made an ideal home. Mrs. Browning's story of her love is seen in
_Sonnets From the Portuguese_, and some of her finest work is in _Casa
Guidi Windows_. Each stimulated the other, while there was a notable
absence of that jealousy which has often served to turn the love of
literary men and women into the fiercest hatred.

Mrs. Browning died suddenly in 1861, and the poet for some time was
stunned by this unlooked-for calamity. He spent two years in
seclusion at work on poems, but then he gathered up his courage and
once more took his old place in the social life of London. In
_Prospice_ and _One Word More_, written in the autumn following his
wife's death, he shows that he has overcome all doubts of the reality
of immortality. These two poems alone would entitle Browning to the
highest place among the world's great poets. In addition he wrote the
memorial to his wife, _O Lyric Love_, that is the cry of the soul left
here on this earth to the soul of the beloved in Paradise. To the
sympathetic this poem, with its solemn rhythm, will appeal like
splendid organ music.

[Illustration: ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING AFTER THE PORTRAIT BY
FIELD TALFOURD]

Among Browning's other poems that are noteworthy are _Fifine at the
Fair_, _Red Cotton Nightcap Country_, _The Inn