Chapter 43

1889

Proposed Purchase of Land at Asolo--Venice--Letter to Mr. G. Moulton-Barrett--Lines in the 'Athenaeum'--Letter to Miss Keep--Illness--Death-- Funeral Ceremonial at Venice--Publication of 'Asolando'--Interment in Poets' Corner.

He had said in writing to Mrs. FitzGerald, 'Shall I ever see them' (the things he is describing) 'again?' If not then, soon afterwards, he conceived a plan which was to insure his doing so. On a piece of ground belonging to the old castle, stood the shell of a house. The two constituted one property which the Municipality of Asolo had hitherto refused to sell. It had been a dream of Mr. Browning's life to possess a dwelling, however small, in some beautiful spot, which should place him beyond the necessity of constantly seeking a new summer resort, and above the alternative of living at an inn, or accepting--as he sometimes feared, abusing--the hospitality of his friends. He was suddenly fascinated by the idea of buying this piece of ground; and, with the efficient help which his son could render during his absence, completing the house, which should be christened 'Pippa's Tower'. It was evident, he said in one of his letters, that for his few remaining years his summer wanderings must always end in Venice. What could he do better than secure for himself this resting-place by the way?

His offer of purchase was made through Mrs. Bronson, to Count Loredano and other important members of the municipality, and their personal assent to it secured. But the town council was on the eve of re-election; no important business could be transacted by it till after this event; and Mr. Browning awaited its decision till the end of October at Asolo, and again throughout November in Venice, without fully understanding the delay. The vote proved favourable; but the night on which it was taken was that of his death.

The consent thus given would have been only a first step towards the accomplishment of his wish. It was necessary that it should be ratified by the Prefecture of Treviso, in the district of which Asolo lies; and Mr. Barrett Browning, who had determined to carry on the negotiations, met with subsequent opposition in the higher council. This has now, however, been happily overcome.

A comprehensive interest attaches to one more letter of the Asolo time. It was addressed to Mr. Browning's brother-in-law, Mr. George Moulton-Barrett.

Asolo, Veneto: Oct. 22, '89.

My dear George,--It was a great pleasure to get your kind letter; though after some delay. We were not in the Tyrol this year, but have been for six weeks or more in this little place which strikes me,--as it did fifty years ago, which is something to say, considering that, properly speaking, it was the first spot of Italian soil I ever set foot upon-- having proceeded to Venice by sea--and thence here. It is an ancient city, older than Rome, and the scene of Queen Catharine Cornaro's exile, where she held a mock court, with all its attendants, on a miniature scale; Bembo, afterwards Cardinal, being her secretary. Her palace is still above us all, the old fortifications surround the hill-top, and certain of the houses are stately--though the population is not above 1,000 souls: the province contains many more of course. But the immense charm of the surrounding country is indescribable--I have never seen its like--the Alps on one side, the Asolan mountains all round,--and opposite, the vast Lombard plain,--with indications of Venice, Padua, and the other cities, visible to a good eye on a clear day; while everywhere are sites of battles and sieges of bygone days, described in full by the historians of the Middle Ages.

We have a valued friend here, Mrs. Bronson, who for years has been our hostess at Venice, and now is in possession of a house here (built into the old city wall)--she was induced to choose it through what I have said about the beauties of the place: and through her care and kindness we are comfortably lodged close by. We think of leaving in a week or so for Venice--guests of Pen and his wife; and after a short stay with them we shall return to London. Pen came to see us for a couple of days: I was hardly prepared for his surprise and admiration which quite equalled my own and that of my sister. All is happily well with them--their palazzo excites the wonder of everybody, so great is Pen's cleverness, and extemporised architectural knowledge, as apparent in all he has done there; why, _why_ will you not go and see him there? He and his wife are very hospitable and receive many visitors. Have I told you that there was a desecrated chapel which he has restored in honour of his mother-- putting up there the inscription by Tommaseo now above Casa Guidi?

Fannie is all you say,--and most dear and precious to us all. . . . Pen's medal to which you refer, is awarded to him in spite of his written renunciation of any sort of wish to contend for a prize. He will now resume painting and sculpture--having been necessarily occupied with the superintendence of his workmen--a matter capitally managed, I am told. For the rest, both Sarianna and myself are very well; I have just sent off my new volume of verses for publication. The complete edition of the works of E. B. B. begins in a few days.

The second part of this letter is very forcibly written, and, in a certain sense, more important than the first; but I suppress it by the desire of Mr. Browning's sister and son, and in complete concurrence with their judgment in the matter. It was a systematic defence of the anger aroused in him by a lately published reference to his wife's death; and though its reasonings were unanswerable as applied to the causes of his emotion, they did not touch the manner in which it had been displayed. The incident was one which deserved only to be forgotten; and if an injudicious act had not preserved its memory, no word of mine should recall it. Since, however, it has been thought fit to include the 'Lines to Edward Fitzgerald' in a widely circulated Bibliography of Mr. Browning's Works,* I owe it to him to say--what I believe is only known to his sister and myself--that there was a moment in which he regretted those lines, and would willingly have withdrawn them. This was the period, unfortunately short, which intervened between his sending them to the 'Athenaeum', and their appearance there. When once public opinion had expressed itself upon them in its too extreme forms of sympathy and condemnation, the pugnacity of his mind found support in both, and regret was silenced if not destroyed. In so far as his published words remained open to censure, I may also, without indelicacy, urge one more plea in his behalf. That which to the merely sympathetic observer appeared a subject for disapprobation, perhaps disgust, had affected him with the directness of a sharp physical blow. He spoke of it, and for hours, even days, was known to feel it, as such. The events of that distant past, which he had lived down, though never forgotten, had flashed upon him from the words which so unexpectedly met his eye, in a vividness of remembrance which was reality. 'I felt as if she had died yesterday,' he said some days later to a friend, in half deprecation, half denial, of the too great fierceness of his reaction. He only recovered his balance in striking the counter-blow. That he could be thus affected at an age usually destructive of the more violent emotions, is part of the mystery of those closing days which had already overtaken him.

* That contained in Mr. Sharp's 'Life'. A still more recent publication gives the lines in full.

By the first of November he was in Venice with his son and daughter; and during the three following weeks was apparently well, though a physician whom he met at a dinner party, and to whom he had half jokingly given his pulse to feel, had learned from it that his days were numbered. He wrote to Miss Keep on the 9th of the month:

'. . . Mrs. Bronson has bought a house at Asolo, and beautified it indeed,--niched as it is in an old tower of the fortifications still partly surrounding the city (for a city it is), and eighteen towers, more or less ruinous, are still discoverable there: it is indeed a delightful place. Meantime, to go on,--we came here, and had a pleasant welcome from our hosts--who are truly magnificently lodged in this vast palazzo which my son has really shown himself fit to possess, so surprising are his restorations and improvements: the whole is all but complete, decorated,--that is, renewed admirably in all respects.

'What strikes me as most noteworthy is the cheerfulness and comfort of the huge rooms.

'The building is warmed throughout by a furnace and pipes.

'Yesterday, on the Lido, the heat was hardly endurable: bright sunshine, blue sky,--snow-tipped Alps in the distance. No place, I think, ever suited my needs, bodily and intellectual, so well.

'The first are satisfied--I am _quite_ well, every breathing inconvenience gone: and as for the latter, I got through whatever had given me trouble in London. . . .'

But it was winter, even in Venice, and one day began with an actual fog. He insisted, notwithstanding, on taking his usual walk on the Lido. He caught a bronchial cold of which the symptoms were aggravated not only by the asthmatic tendency, but by what proved to be exhaustion of the heart; and believing as usual that his liver alone was at fault, he took little food, and refused wine altogether.*

* He always declined food when he was unwell; and maintained that in this respect the instinct of animals was far more just than the idea often prevailing among human beings that a failing appetite should be assisted or coerced.

He did not yield to the sense of illness; he did not keep his bed. Some feverish energy must have supported him through this avoidance of every measure which might have afforded even temporary strength or relief. On Friday, the 29th, he wrote to a friend in London that he had waited thus long for the final answer from Asolo, but would wait no longer. He would start for England, if possible, on the Wednesday or Thursday of the following week. It was true 'he had caught a cold; he felt sadly asthmatic, scarcely fit to travel; but he hoped for the best, and would write again soon.' He wrote again the following day, declaring himself better. He had been punished, he said, for long-standing neglect of his 'provoking liver'; but a simple medicine, which he had often taken before, had this time also relieved the oppression of his chest; his friend was not to be uneasy about him; 'it was in his nature to get into scrapes of this kind, but he always managed, somehow or other, to extricate himself from them.' He concluded with fresh details of his hopes and plans.

In the ensuing night the bronchial distress increased; and in the morning he consented to see his son's physician, Dr. Cini, whose investigation of the case at once revealed to him its seriousness. The patient had been removed two days before, from the second storey of the house, which the family then inhabited, to an entresol apartment just above the ground-floor, from which he could pass into the dining-room without fatigue. Its lower ceilings gave him (erroneously) an impression of greater warmth, and he had imagined himself benefited by the change. A freer circulation of air was now considered imperative, and he was carried to Mrs. Browning's spacious bedroom, where an open fireplace supplied both warmth and ventilation, and large windows admitted all the sunshine of the Grand Canal. Everything was done for him which professional skill and loving care could do. Mrs. Browning, assisted by her husband, and by a young lady who was then her guest,* filled the place of the trained nurses until these could arrive; for a few days the impending calamity seemed even to have been averted. The bronchial attack was overcome. Mr. Browning had once walked from the bed to the sofa; his sister, whose anxiety had perhaps been spared the full knowledge of his state, could send comforting reports to his friends at home. But the enfeebled heart had made its last effort. Attacks of faintness set in. Special signs of physical strength maintained themselves until within a few hours of the end. On Wednesday, December 11, a consultation took place between Dr. Cini, Dr. da Vigna, and Dr. Minich; and the opinion was then expressed for the first time that recovery, though still possible, was not within the bounds of probability. Weakness, however, rapidly gained upon him towards the close of the following day. Two hours before midnight of this Thursday, December 12, he breathed his last.

* Miss Evelyn Barclay, now Mrs. Douglas Giles.

He had been a good patient. He took food and medicine whenever they were offered to him. Doctors and nurses became alike warmly interested in him. His favourite among the latter was, I think, the Venetian, a widow, Margherita Fiori, a simple kindly creature who had known much sorrow. To her he said, about five hours before the end, 'I feel much worse. I know now that I must die.' He had shown at intervals a perception, even conviction, of his danger; but the excitement of the brain, caused by exhaustion on the one hand and the necessary stimulants on the other, must have precluded all systematic consciousness of approaching death. He repeatedly assured his family that he was not suffering.

A painful and urgent question now presented itself for solution: Where should his body find its last rest? He had said to his sister in the foregoing summer, that he wished to be buried wherever he might die: if in England, with his mother; if in France, with his father; if in Italy, with his wife. Circumstances all pointed to his removal to Florence; but a recent decree had prohibited further interment in the English Cemetery there, and the town had no power to rescind it. When this was known in Venice, that city begged for itself the privilege of retaining the illustrious guest, and rendering him the last honours. For the moment the idea even recommended itself to Mr. Browning's son. But he felt bound to make a last effort in the direction of the burial at Florence; and was about to despatch a telegram, in which he invoked the mediation of Lord Dufferin, when all difficulties were laid at rest by a message from the Dean of Westminster, conveying his assent to an interment in the Abbey.* He had already telegraphed for information concerning the date of the funeral, with a view to the memorial service, which he intended to hold on the same day. Nor would the further honour have remained for even twenty-four hours ungranted, because unasked, but for the belief prevailing among Mr. Browning's friends that there was no room for its acceptance.

* The assent thus conveyed had assumed the form of an offer, and was characterized as such by the Dean himself.

It was still necessary to provide for the more immediate removal of the body. Local custom forbade its retention after the lapse of two days and nights; and only in view of the special circumstances of the case could a short respite be granted to the family. Arrangements were therefore at once made for a private service, to be conducted by the British Chaplain in one of the great halls of the Rezzonico Palace; and by two o'clock of the following day, Sunday, a large number of visitors and residents had assembled there. The subsequent passage to the mortuary island of San Michele had been organized by the city, and was to display so much of the character of a public pageant as the hurried preparation allowed. The chief municipal officers attended the service. When this had been performed, the coffin was carried by eight firemen (pompieri), arrayed in their distinctive uniform, to the massive, highly decorated municipal barge (Barca delle Pompe funebri) which waited to receive it. It was guarded during the transit by four 'uscieri' in 'gala' dress, two sergeants of the Municipal Guard, and two of the firemen bearing torches: the remainder of these following in a smaller boat. The barge was towed by a steam launch of the Royal Italian Marine. The chief officers of the city, the family and friends in their separate gondolas, completed the procession. On arriving at San Michele, the firemen again received their burden, and bore it to the chapel in which its place had been reserved.

When 'Pauline' first appeared, the Author had received, he never learned from whom, a sprig of laurel enclosed with this quotation from the poem,

Trust in signs and omens.

Very beautiful garlands were now piled about his bier, offerings of friendship and affection. Conspicuous among these was the ceremonial structure of metallic foliage and porcelain flowers, inscribed 'Venezia a Roberto Browning', which represented the Municipality of Venice. On the coffin lay one comprehensive symbol of the fulfilled prophecy: a wreath of laurel-leaves which his son had placed there.

A final honour was decreed to the great English Poet by the city in which he had died; the affixing of a memorial tablet to the outer wall of the Rezzonico Palace. Since these pages were first written, the tablet has been placed. It bears the following inscription:

A ROBERTO BROWNING

MORTO IN QUESTO PALAZZO IL 12 DICEMBRE 1889 VENEZIA POSE

Below this, in the right-hand corner appear two lines selected from his works:

Open my heart and you will see Graved inside of it, 'Italy'.

Nor were these the only expressions of Italian respect and sympathy. The municipality of Florence sent its message of condolence. Asolo, poor in all but memories, itself bore the expenses of a mural tablet for the house which Mr. Browning had occupied. It is now known that Signor Crispi would have appealed to Parliament to rescind the exclusion from the Florentine cemetery, if the motive for doing so had been less promptly removed.

Mr. Browning's own country had indeed opened a way for the reunion of the husband and wife. The idea had rapidly shaped itself in the public mind that, since they might not rest side by side in Italy, they should be placed together among the great of their own land; and it was understood that the Dean would sanction Mrs. Browning's interment in the Abbey, if a formal application to this end were made to him. But Mr. Barrett Browning could not reconcile himself to the thought of disturbing his mother's grave, so long consecrated to Florence by her warm love and by its grateful remembrance; and at the desire of both surviving members of the family the suggestion was set aside.

Two days after his temporary funeral, privately and at night, all that remained of Robert Browning was conveyed to the railway station; and thence, by a trusted servant, to England. The family followed within twenty-four hours, having made the necessary preparations for a long absence from Venice; and, travelling with the utmost speed, arrived in London on the same day. The house in De Vere Gardens received its master once more.

'Asolando' was published on the day of Mr. Browning's death. The report of his illness had quickened public interest in the forthcoming work, and his son had the satisfaction of telling him of its already realized success, while he could still receive a warm, if momentary, pleasure from the intelligence. The circumstances of its appearance place it beyond ordinary criticism; they place it beyond even an impartial analysis of its contents. It includes one or two poems to which we would gladly assign a much earlier date; I have been told on good authority that we may do this in regard to one of them. It is difficult to refer the 'Epilogue' to a coherent mood of any period of its author's life. It is certain, however, that by far the greater part of the little volume was written in 1888-89, and I believe all that is most serious in it was the product of the later year. It possesses for many readers the inspiration of farewell words; for all of us it has their pathos.

He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in Poets' Corner, on the 31st of December, 1889. In this tardy act of national recognition England claimed her own. A densely packed, reverent and sympathetic crowd of his countrymen and countrywomen assisted at the consignment of the dead poet to his historic resting place. Three verses of Mrs. Browning's poem, 'The Sleep', set to music by Dr. Bridge, were sung for the first time on this occasion.

Conclusion

A few words must still be said upon that purport and tendency of Robert Browning's work, which has been defined by a few persons, and felt by very many as his 'message'.

The definition has been disputed on the ground of Art. We are told by Mr. Sharp, though in somewhat different words, that the poet, qua poet, cannot deliver a 'message' such as directly addresses itself to the intellectual or moral sense; since his special appeal to us lies not through the substance, but through the form, or presentment, of what he has had to say; since, therefore (by implication), in claiming for it an intellectual--as distinct from an aesthetic--character, we ignore its function as poetry.

It is difficult to argue justly, where the question at issue turns practically on the meaning of a word. Mr. Sharp would, I think, be the first to admit this; and it appears to me that, in the present case, he so formulates his theory as to satisfy his artistic conscience, and yet leave room for the recognition of that intellectual quality so peculiar to Mr. Browning's verse. But what one member of the aesthetic school may express with a certain reserve is proclaimed unreservedly by many more; and Mr. Sharp must forgive me, if for the moment I regard him as one of these; and if I oppose his arguments in the words of another poet and critic of poetry, whose claim to the double title is I believe undisputed--Mr. Roden Noel. I quote from an unpublished fragment of a published article on Mr. Sharp's 'Life of Browning'.

'Browning's message is an integral part of himself as writer; (whether as poet, since we agree that he is a poet, were surely a too curious and vain discussion;) but some of his finest things assuredly are the outcome of certain very definite personal convictions. "The question," Mr. Sharp says, "is not one of weighty message, but of artistic presentation." There seems to be no true contrast here. "The primary concern of the artist must be with his vehicle of expression"--no--not the primary concern. Since the critic adds--(for a poet) "this vehicle is language emotioned to the white heat of rhythmic music by impassioned thought or sensation." Exactly--"thought" it may be. Now part of this same "thought" in Browning is the message. And therefore it is part of his "primary concern". "It is with presentment," says Mr. Sharp, "that the artist has fundamentally to concern himself." Granted: but it must surely be presentment of _something_. . . . I do not understand how to separate the substance from the form in true poetry. . . . If the message be not well delivered, it does not constitute literature. But if it be well delivered, the primary concern of the poet lay with the message after all!'

More cogent objection has been taken to the character of the 'message' as judged from a philosophic point of view. It is the expression or exposition of a vivid a priori religious faith confirmed by positive experience; and it reflects as such a double order of thought, in which totally opposite mental activities are often forced into co-operation with each other. Mr. Sharp says, this time quoting from Mr. Mortimer ('Scottish Art Review', December 1889):

'His position in regard to the thought of the age is paradoxical, if not inconsistent. He is in advance of it in every respect but one, the most important of all, the matter of fundamental principles; in these he is behind it. His processes of thought are often scientific in their precision of analysis; the sudden conclusion which he imposes upon them is transcendental and inept.'

This statement is relatively true. Mr. Browning's positive reasonings often do end with transcendental conclusions. They also start from transcendental premises. However closely his mind might follow the visible order of experience, he never lost what was for him the consciousness of a Supreme Eternal Will as having existed before it; he never lost the vision of an intelligent First Cause, as underlying all minor systems of causation. But such weaknesses as were involved in his logical position are inherent to all the higher forms of natural theology when once it has been erected into a dogma. As maintained by Mr. Browning, this belief held a saving clause, which removed it from all dogmatic, hence all admissible grounds of controversy: the more definite or concrete conceptions of which it consists possessed no finality for even his own mind; they represented for him an absolute truth in contingent relations to it. No one felt more strongly than he the contradictions involved in any conceivable system of Divine creation and government. No one knew better that every act and motive which we attribute to a Supreme Being is a virtual negation of His existence. He believed nevertheless that such a Being exists; and he accepted His reflection in the mirror of the human consciousness, as a necessarily false image, but one which bears witness to the truth.

His works rarely indicate this condition of feeling; it was not often apparent in his conversation. The faith which he had contingently accepted became absolute for him from all practical points of view; it became subject to all the conditions of his humanity. On the ground of abstract logic he was always ready to disavow it; the transcendental imagination and the acknowledged limits of human reason claimed the last word in its behalf. This philosophy of religion is distinctly suggested in the fifth parable of 'Ferishtah's Fancies'.

But even in defending what remains, from the most widely accepted point of view, the validity of Mr. Browning's 'message', we concede the fact that it is most powerful when conveyed in its least explicit form; for then alone does it bear, with the full weight of his poetic utterance, on the minds to which it is addressed. His challenge to Faith and Hope imposes itself far less through any intellectual plea which he can advance in its support, than through the unconscious testimony of all creative genius to the marvel of conscious life; through the passionate affirmation of his poetic and human nature, not only of the goodness and the beauty of that life, but of its reality and its persistence.

We are told by Mr. Sharp that a new star appeared in Orion on the night on which Robert Browning died. The alleged fact is disproved by the statement of the Astronomer Royal, to whom it has been submitted; but it would have been a beautiful symbol of translation, such as affectionate fancy might gladly cherish if it were true. It is indeed true that on that twelfth of December, a vivid centre of light and warmth was extinguished upon our earth. The clouded brightness of many lives bears witness to the poet spirit which has departed, the glowing human presence which has passed away. We mourn the poet whom we have lost far less than we regret the man: for he had done his appointed work; and that work remains to us. But the two beings were in truth inseparable. The man is always present in the poet; the poet was dominant in the man. This fact can never be absent from our loving remembrance of him. No just estimate of his life and character will fail to give it weight.

Index

[The Index is included only as a rough guide to what is in this book. The numbers in brackets indicate the number of index entries: as each reference, short or long, is counted as one, the numbers may be misleading if observed too closely.]

Abel, Mr. (musician) [1] Adams, Mrs. Sarah Flower [2] Albemarle, Lord [1] Alford, Lady Marian [1] Allingham, Mr. William [1] American appreciation of Browning [1] Ampere, M. [1] Ancona [1] Anderson, Mr. (actor) [1] Arnold, Matthew [1] Arnould, Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) [1] Ashburton, Lady [1] Asolo [4] Associated Societies of Edinburgh, the [1] Athenaeum, the (review of 'Pauline') [2] Audierne (Finisterre, Brittany) [1] Azeglio, Massimo d' [1]

Balzac's works, the Brownings' admiration of [2] Barrett, Miss Arabel [4] Barrett, Miss Henrietta (afterwards Mrs. Surtees Cook [Altham]) [2] Barrett, Mr. (the poet's father-in-law) [3] Barrett, Mr. Laurence (actor) [1] Bartoli's 'De' Simboli trasportati al Morale' [1] Benckhausen, Mr. (Russian consul-general) [1] Benzon, Mr. Ernest [1] Beranger, M. [2] Berdoe, Dr. Edward: his paper on 'Paracelsus, the Reformer of Medicine' [1] Biarritz [1] Blackwood's Magazine (on 'A Blot in the 'Scutcheon') [1] Blagden, Miss Isa [5] Blundell, Dr. (physician) [1] Boyle, Dean (Salisbury) [1] Boyle, Miss (niece of the Earl of Cork) [2] Bridell-Fox, Mrs. [3] Bronson, Mrs. Arthur [5] Browning, Robert (grandfather of the poet): account of his life, two marriages, and two families [1] Browning, Mrs. (step-grandmother of the poet) [2] Browning, Robert (father of the poet): marriage; clerk in the Bank of England; comparison between him and his son; scholarly and artistic tastes; simplicity and genuineness of his character; his strong health; Mr. Locker-Lampson's account of him; his religious opinions; renewed relations with his father's widow and second family; death [10] Browning, Mrs. (the poet's mother): her family; her nervous temperament transmitted to her son; her death [3] Browning, Mr. Reuben (the poet's uncle), (incl. Lord Beaconsfield's appreciation of his Latinity) [2] Browning, Mr. William Shergold (the poet's uncle), (incl. his literary work) [2] Browning, Miss Jemima (the poet's aunt) [1] Browning, Miss (the poet's sister), (incl. comes to live with her brother) [16] Browning, Robert: 1812-33--the notion of his Jewish extraction disproved; his family anciently established in Dorsetshire; his carelessness as to genealogical record; account of his grandfather's life and second marriage; his father's unhappy youth; his paternal grandmother; his father's position; comparison of father and son; the father's use of grotesque rhymes in teaching him; qualities he inherited from his mother; weak points in regard to health throughout his life; characteristics in early childhood; great quickness in learning; an amusing prank; passion for his mother; fondness for animals; his collections; experiences of school life; extensive reading in his father's library; early acquaintance with old books; his early attempts in verse; spurious poems in circulation; 'Incondita', the production of the twelve-year-old poet; introduction to Mr. Fox; his boyish love and lasting affection for Miss Flower; first acquaintance with Shelley's and Keats' works; his admiration for Shelley; home education under masters, his manly accomplishments; his studies chiefly literary; love of home; associates of his youth: Arnould and Domett; the Silverthornes; his choice of poetry as a profession; other possible professions considered; admiration for good acting; his father's support in his literary career; reads and digests Johnson's Dictionary by way of preparation [37] Browning, Robert: 1833-35--publication of 'Pauline'; correspondence with Mr. Fox; the poet's later opinion of it; characteristics of the poem; Mr. Fox's review of it; other notices; Browning's visit to Russia; contributions to the 'Monthly Repository': his first sonnet; the 'Trifler' (amateur periodical); a comic defence of debt; preparing to publish 'Paracelsus'; friendship with Count de Ripert-Monclar; Browning's treatment of 'Paracelsus'; the original Preface; John Forster's article on it in the 'Examiner' [16] Browning, Robert: 1835-38--removal of the family to Hatcham; renewed intimacy with his grandfather's second family; friendly relations with Carlyle; recognition by men of the day; introduction to Macready; first meeting with Forster; Miss Euphrasia Fanny Haworth; at the 'Ion' supper; prospects of 'Strafford'; its production and reception; a personal description of him at this period; Mr. John Robertson and the 'Westminster Review' [11] Browning, Robert: 1838-44--first Italian journey; a striking experience of the voyage; preparations for writing other tragedies; meeting with Mr. John Kenyon; appearance of 'Sordello'; mental developments; 'Pippa Passes'; Alfred Domett on the critics; 'Bells and Pomegranates'; explanation of its title. List of the poems; 'A Blot in the 'Scutcheon', written for Macready; Browning's later account and discussion of the breach between him and Macready; 'Colombe's Birthday'; other dramas; The 'Dramatic Lyrics'; 'The Lost Leader'; Browning's life before his second Italian journey; in Naples; visit to Mr. Trelawney at Leghorn [19] Browning, Robert: 1844-55--introduction to Miss Barrett; his admiration for her poetry; his proposal to her; reasons for concealing the engagement; their marriage; journey to Italy; life at Pisa; Florence; Browning's request for appointment on a British mission to the Vatican; settling in Casa Guidi; Fano and Ancona; 'A Blot in the 'Scutcheon' at Sadler's Wells; birth of Browning's son, and death of his mother; wanderings in Italy: the Baths of Lucca; Venice; friendship with Margaret Fuller Ossoli; winter in Paris; Carlyle; George Sand. Close friendship with M. Joseph Milsand; Milsand's appreciation of Browning; new edition of Browning's poems; 'Christmas Eve and Easter Day'; the Essay on Shelley; summer in London; introduction to Dante G. Rossetti; again in Florence; production of 'Colombe's Birthday' (1853); again at Lucca, Mr. and Mrs. W. Story; first winter in Rome; the Kembles; again in London (1855): Tennyson, Ruskin [32] Browning, Robert: 1855-61--publication of 'Men and Women'; 'Karshook'; 'Two in the Campagna'; another winter in Paris: Lady Elgin; legacies to the Brownings from Mr. Kenyon; Mr. Browning's little son; a carnival masquerade; Spiritualism; 'Sludge the Medium'; Count Ginnasi's clairvoyance; at Siena; Walter Savage Landor; illness of Mrs. Browning; American appreciation of Browning's works; his social life in Rome; last winter in Rome; Madame du Quaire; Mrs. Browning's illness and death; the comet of 1861 [18] Browning, Robert: 1861-69--Miss Blagden's helpful sympathy; journey to England; feeling in regard to funeral ceremonies; established in London with his son; Miss Arabel Barrett; visit to Biarritz; origin of 'The Ring and the Book'; his views as to the publication of letters; new edition of his works, selection of poems. Residence at Pornic; a meeting at Mr. F. Palgrave's; his literary position in 1865; his own estimate of it; death of his father; with his sister at Le Croisic; Academic honours: letter to the Master of Balliol (Dr. Scott); curious circumstance connected with the death of Miss A. Barrett; at Audierne; the uniform edition of his works; publication of 'The Ring and the Book'; inspiration of Pompilia [21] Browning, Robert: 1869-73--'Helen's Tower'; at St.-Aubin; escape from France during the war (1870); publication of 'Balaustion's Adventure' and 'Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau'; 'Herve Riel' sold for the benefit of French sufferers by the war; 'Fifine at the Fair'; mistaken theories of that work; 'Red Cotton Nightcap Country' [8] Browning, Robert: 1873-78--his manner of life in London; his love of music; friendship with Miss Egerton-Smith; summers spent at Mers, Villers, Isle of Arran, and La Saisiaz; 'Aristophanes' Apology'; 'Pacchiarotto', 'The Inn Album', the translation of the 'Agamemnon'; description of a visit to Oxford; visit to Cambridge; offered the Rectorships of the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews; description of La Saisiaz; sudden death of Miss Egerton-Smith; the poem 'La Saisiaz': Browning's position towards Christianity; 'The Two Poets of Croisic', and Selections from his Works [13] Browning, Robert: 1878-81--he revisits Italy; Spluegen; Asolo; Venice; favourite Alpine retreats; friendly relations with Mrs. Arthur Bronson; life in Venice; a tragedy at Saint-Pierre; the first series of 'Dramatic Idyls'; the second series, 'Jocoseria', and 'Ferishtah's Fancies' [10] Browning, Robert: 1881-87--the Browning Society; Browning's attitude in regard to it; similar societies in England and America; wide diffusion of Browning's works in America; lines for the gravestone of Mr. Levi Thaxter; President of the New Shakspere Society, and member of the Wordsworth Society; Honorary President of the Associated Societies of Edinburgh; appreciation of his works in Italy; sonnet to Goldoni; attempt to purchase the Palazzo Manzoni, Venice; Saint-Moritz; Mrs. Bloomfield Moore; at Llangollen; loss of old friends; Foreign Correspondent to the Royal Academy; publication of 'Parleyings' [15] Browning, Robert: his character--constancy in friendship; optimism and belief in a direct Providence; political principles; character of his friendships; attitude towards his reviewers and his readers; attitude towards his works; his method of work; study of Spanish, Hebrew, and German; conversational powers and the stores of his memory; nervous peculiarities; his innate kindliness; attitude towards women; final views on the Women's Suffrage question [13] Browning, Robert: his last years--marriage of his son; his change of abode; symptoms of declining strength; new poems, and revision of the old; journey to Italy: Primiero and Venice; last winter in England: visit to Balliol College; last visit to Italy: Asolo once more; proposed purchase of land there; the 'Lines to Edward Fitzgerald'; with his son at Palazzo Rezzonico; last illness; death; funeral honours in Italy; 'Asolando' published on the day of his death; his burial in Westminster Abbey; the purport and tendency of his work [16] Browning, Robert: letters to--Bainton, Mr. George (Coventry) [1] Blagden, Miss Isa [12] Fitz-Gerald, Mrs. [8] Flower, Miss [2] Fox, Mr. [4] Haworth, Miss E. F. [3] Hickey, Miss E. H. [1] Hill, Mr. Frank (editor of the 'Daily News') [2] Hill, Mrs. Frank [1] Keep, Miss [3] Knight, Professor (St. Andrews) [5] Lee, Miss (Maidstone) [1] Leighton, Mr. (afterwards Sir Frederic) [4] Martin, Mrs. Theodore (afterwards Lady) [2] Moulton-Barrett, Mr. G. [2] Quaire, Madame du [1] Robertson, Mr. John (editor of 'Westminster Review', 1838) [1] Scott, Rev. Dr. [1] Skirrow, Mrs. Charles [4] Smith, Mr. G. M. [3] Browning, Robert: Works of--'A Blot in the 'Scutcheon' [2] 'A Death in the Desert' [2] 'Agamemnon' [1] 'Andrea del Sarto' [1] 'Aristophanes' Apology' [1] 'Artemis Prologuizes' [1] 'Asolando' [5] 'At the Mermaid' [2] 'A Woman's Last Word' [1] 'Bad Dreams' [1] 'Balaustion's Adventure' [3] 'Bean Stripes' [1] 'Beatrice Signorini' [1] 'Bells and Pomegranates' (incl. meaning of the title, and list of the dramas and poems) [7] 'Ben Karshook's Wisdom' [1] 'Bishop Blougram' [1] 'By the Fireside' [1] 'Childe Roland' [1] 'Christmas Eve and Easter Day' [2] 'Cleon' [1] 'Colombe's Birthday' [4] 'Crescentius, the Pope's Legate' [1] 'Cristina' [1] 'Dramatic Idyls' [4] 'Dramatic Lyrics' [1] 'Dramatis Personae' [5] 'Essay on Shelley' [1] 'Ferishtah's Fancies' [2] 'Fifine at the Fair' [2] 'Flute-Music' [1] 'Goldoni', sonnet to [1] 'Helen's Tower' (sonnet) [1] 'Herve Riel' (ballad) [2] 'Home Thoughts from the Sea' [1] 'How they brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix' [1] 'In a Balcony' [2] 'In a Gondola' [2] 'Ivan Ivanovitch' [3] 'James Lee's Wife' [3] 'Jocoseria' [1] 'Johannes Agricola in Meditation' [1] 'King Victor and King Charles' [3] 'La Saisiaz' [4] 'Luria' [1] 'Madhouse Cells' [1] 'Martin Relph' [1] 'May and Death' [1] 'Men and Women' [3] 'Ned Bratts' [1] 'Numpholeptos' [1] 'One Word More' [2] 'Pacchiarotto' [3] 'Paracelsus' [8] 'Parleyings' [2] 'Pauline' [10] 'Pippa Passes' (incl. the Preface to) [5] 'Ponte dell' Angelo' [1] 'Porphyria's Lover' [1] 'Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau' [3] 'Red Cotton Nightcap Country' [3] 'Rosny' [1] 'Saint Martin's Summer' [1] 'Saul' [1] 'Sludge the Medium' [2] 'Sordello' [7] 'Strafford' [3] 'The Epistle of Karshish' [1] 'The Flight of the Duchess' [1] 'The Inn Album' [3] 'The Lost Leader' [1] 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' [1] 'The Return of the Druses' [3] 'The Ring and the Book' [3] 'The Two Poets of Croisic' [2] 'The Worst of It' [1] 'Two in the Campagna' [1] 'White Witchcraft' [1] 'Why I am a Liberal' (sonnet) [2] 'Women and Roses' [1] Browning, Mrs. (the poet's wife: Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett): Browning's introduction to her; her ill health; the reasons for their secret marriage; causes of her ill health; happiness of her married life; estrangement from her father; her visit to Mrs. Theodore Martin; 'Aurora Leigh': her methods of work; a legacy from Mr. Kenyon; her feeling about Spiritualism; success of 'Aurora Leigh'; her sister's illness and death; her own death; proposed reinterment in Westminster Abbey [14] Browning, Mrs.: extracts from her letters--on her husband's devotion; life in Pisa, and on French literature; Vallombrosa; their acquaintances in Florence; their dwelling in Piazza Pitti; 'Father Prout's' cure for a sore throat; apartments in the Casa Guidi; visits to Fano and Ancona; Phelps's production of 'A Blot in the 'Scutcheon'; birth of her son; the effect of his mother's death on her husband; wanderings in northern Italy; the neighbourhood of Lucca; Venice; life in Paris (1851); esteem for her husband's family; description of George Sand; the personal appearance of that lady; her impression of M. Joseph Milsand; the first performance of 'Colombe's Birthday' (1853); Rome: death in the Story family; Mrs. Sartoris and the Kembles; society in Rome; a visit to Mr. Ruskin; about 'Penini'; description of a carnival masquerade (Florence, 1857); impressions of Landor; tribute to the unselfish character of her father-in-law; on her husband's work; on the contrast of his (then) appreciation in England and America; Massimo d' Azeglio; on her sister Henrietta (Mrs. Surtees Cook); on the death of Count Cavour [34] Browning, Mr. Robert Wiedemann Barrett (the poet's son): his birth; incidents of his childhood; his pet-name--Penini, Peni, Pen; in charge of Miss Isa Blagden on his mother's death; taken to England by his father; manner of his education; studying art in Antwerp; with his father in Venice (1885); his marriage; purchase of the Rezzonico Palace (Venice); death of his father there [14] Browning, Mrs. R. Barrett [2] Browning, Mr. Robert Jardine (Crown Prosecutor in New South Wales) [1] Browning Society, the: its establishment [1] Brownlow, Lord [1] Bruce, Lady Augusta [1] Bruce, Lady Charlotte (wife of Mr. F. Locker) [1] Buckstone, Mr. (actor) [1] Buloz, M. [1] Burne Jones, Mr. [2] Burns, Major (son of the poet) [1]

Californian Railway time-table edition of Browning's poems [1] Cambo [1] Cambridge, Browning's visit to [1] Campbell Dykes, Mr. J. [6] Carducci, Countess (Rome) [1] Carlyle, Mr. Thomas [6] Carlyle, Mrs. Thomas (incl. anecdote) [2] Carnarvon, Lord [1] Carnival masquerade, a [1] Cartwright, Mr. and Mrs. (of Aynhoe) [3] Casa Guidi (Browning's residence at Florence) [2] Cattermole, Mr. [1] Cavour, Count, death of [1] Channel, Mr. (afterwards Sir William), and Frank [1] Chapman & Hall, Messrs. (publishers) [2] Cholmondeley, Mr. (Condover) [3] Chorley, Mr. [1] Cini, Dr. (Venice) [1] Clairvoyance, an instance of [1] Coddington, Miss Fannie (afterwards Mrs. R. Barrett Browning) [1] Colvin, Mr. Sidney [1] Corkran, Mrs. Fraser [2] Cornaro, Catharine [3] Cornhill Magazine: why 'Herve Riel' appeared in it [2] Corson, Professor [1] Crosse, Mrs. Andrew [1] 'Croxall's Fables', Browning's early fondness for [1] Curtis, Mr. [1]

Dale, Mr. (actor) [1] Davidson, Captain (of the 'Norham Castle', 1838) [2] Davies, Rev. Llewellyn [1] Debt, Browning's mock defence of (in the 'Trifler') [1] Dickens, Charles [5] Domett, Alfred (incl. 'On a certain Critique of Pippa Passes') [3] Dourlans, M. Gustave [1] Doyle, Sir Francis H. [1] Dufferin, Lord [1] Dulwich Gallery [1]

Eclectic Review, the (review of Browning's works) [1] Eden, Mr. Frederic [1] Egerton-Smith, Miss [2] Elgin, Lady [3] Elstree (Macready's residence) [2] Elton, Mr. (actor) [1] Engadine, the [2] Examiner (review of 'Paracelsus') [1]

Fano [1] 'Father Prout' (Mr. Mahoney) [1] Faucit, Miss Helen--as Lady Carlisle in 'Strafford'; as Mildred in 'A Blot in the 'Scutcheon'; as Colombe in 'Colombe's Birthday' [3] Fiori, Margherita (Browning's nurse) [1] Fisher, Mr. (artist) [1] Fitzgerald, Mr. Edward [1] Fitz-Gerald, Mrs. [1] Florence [6] Flower, Miss [5] Flower, Mr. Benjamin (editor of the 'Cambridge Intelligencer') [1] Fontainebleau [1] Forster, Mr. John [11] Fortia, Marquis de [1] Fox, Miss Caroline [1] Fox, Miss Sarah [1] Fox, Mr. W. J. (incl. election for Oldham) [10] Furnivall, Dr. [5]

Gaisford, Mr., and Lady Alice [1] Galuppi, Baldassaro [1] Gibraltar [1] Ginnasi, Count (Ravenna) [1] Giustiniani-Recanati, Palazzo (Venice) [1] Gladstone, Mr. [1] Glasgow, University of [1] Goldoni, Browning's sonnet to [1] Goltz, M. (Austrian Minister at Rome) [1] Gosse's 'Personalia' [4] Green, Mr. [1] Gressoney Saint-Jean [1] Guerande (Brittany) [1] Guidi Palace (Casa Guidi) [1] Gurney, Rev. Archer [1]

Hanmer, Sir John (afterwards Lord Hanmer) [1] Haworth, Miss Euphrasia Fanny [2] Haworth, Mr. Frederick [1] Hawthorne, Nathaniel [1] Hazlitt, Mr. [1] Heyermans, M. (artist; Antwerp) [1] Hickey, Miss E. H. [2] Hill, Mr. Frank (editor of the 'Daily News', 1884) [1] Hood, Mr. Thomas [1] Horne, Mr. [1] Hugo, Victor [1]

Ion, the Ion supper [1]

Jameson, Mrs. Anna [1] Jebb-Dyke, Mrs. [1] Jerningham, Miss [1] Jersey [1] Jewsbury, Miss Geraldine [1] Joachim, Professor [1] Jones, Mr. Edward Burne [1] Jones, Rev. Thomas [1] Jowett, Dr. [3]

Kean, Mr. Edmund [1] Keats [1] Keepsake, The [1] Kemble, Mrs. Fanny [1] Kenyon, Mr. John [5] King, Mr. Joseph [1] Kirkup, Mr. [2] Knight, Professor (St. Andrews) [2]

Lamartine, M. de [1] Lamb, Charles [1] Landor, Walter Savage [5] La Saisiaz [2] Layard, Sir Henry and Lady [2] Le Croisic (Brittany) [1] Leigh Hunt [1] Leighton, Mr. (afterwards Sir Frederic) [2] 'Les Charmettes' (Chambery: Rousseau's residence) [1] Le Strange, Mrs. Guy [1] Lewis, Miss (Harpton) [1] Literary Gazette (review of 'Pauline') [1] Literary World, the Boston, U.S. (on 'Colombe's Birthday') [1] Llangollen [2] Llantysilio Church [1] Lloyd, Captain [1] Locker, Mr. F. (now Mr. Locker-Lampson) [2] Lockhart [1] Lucca [4] Lyons, Mr. (son of Sir Edmund) [1] Lytton, Mr. (now Lord) [3]

Maclise, Mr. (artist) [2] Macready, Mr. [5] Macready, Willy (eldest son of the actor): his illustrations to the 'Pied Piper' [1] Mahoney, Rev. Francis ('Father Prout') [1] Manning, Rev. Dr. (afterwards Cardinal) [1] Manzoni Palace (Venice) [1] Martin, Lady [3] Martin, Sir Theodore [1] Martineau, Miss [4] Mazzini, Signor [1] Melvill, Rev. H. (afterwards Canon) [2] Meredith, Mr. George [1] Mill, Mr. J. S. [3] Milnes, Mr. Monckton (afterwards Lord Houghton) [4] Milsand, M. Joseph [4] Minich, Dr. (Venice) [1] Mitford, Miss [3] Mocenigo, Countess (Venice) [1] Mohl, Madame [2] Monthly Repository (incl. Browning's contributions to) [4] Moore, Mrs. Bloomfield [2] Morgan, Lady [1] Morison, Mr. James Cotter [1] Mortimer, Mr. [2] Moulton-Barrett, Mr. George [3] Moxon, Mr. (publisher) [4] Murray, Miss Alma (actress) [1] Musset, Alfred and Paul de [1]

Naples [1] National Magazine, the: Mrs. Browning's portrait in (1859) [1] Nencioni, Professor (Florence) [1] Nettleship, Mr. J. T. [1] New Shakspere Society [1] Noel, Mr. Roden [1]

Ogle, Dr. John [1] Ogle, Miss (author of 'A Lost Love') [1] Osbaldistone, Mr. (manager of Covent Garden Theatre, 1836) [1] Ossoli, Countess Margaret Fuller [1] Oxford (incl. Browning's visit to, 1877) [2]

Palgrave, Mr. Francis [1] Palgrave, Mr. Reginald [1] Paris [2] Patterson, Monsignor [1] Phelps, Mr. (actor) [3] Pirate-ship, wreck of [1] Pisa [1] Poetical contest, a Roman [1] Pollock, Sir Frederick (1843) [1] Pornic [2] Powell, Mr. Thomas [2] Power, Miss (editor of 'The Keepsake') [1] Powers, Mr. (American sculptor) [1] Primiero [1] Prinsep, Mr. Val [6] Pritchard, Captain [1] Procter, Mr. Bryan Waller (Barry Cornwall) [4]

Quaire, Madame du [2] Quarles' Emblemes [1]

Ravenna [1] Ready, the two Misses, preparatory school [3] Ready, Rev. Thomas (Browning's first schoolmaster) [2] Regan, Miss [1] Reid, Mr. Andrew [1] Relfe, Mr. John (musician) [1] Rezzonico Palace (Venice), the [2] Richmond, Rev. Thomas [1] Ripert-Monclar, Count de [4] Robertson, Mr. John (editor of 'Westminster Review', 1838) [1] Robinson, Miss Mary (now Mrs. James Darmesteter) [1] Rome [2] Rossetti, Mr. Dante Gabriel (incl. death of his wife) [4] Ruskin, Mr. [1] Russell, Lady William [1] Russell, Mr. Odo (afterwards Lord Ampthill) [2]

Sabatier, Madame [1] Saleve, the [2] Sand, George [2] Sartoris, Mrs. [4] Saunders & Otley, Messrs. [2] Scott, Rev. Dr. (Master of Balliol, 1867) [1] Scotti, Mr. [1] Scottish Art Review, the, Mr. Mortimer's 'Note on Browning' in [1] Seraverra [1] Sharp, Mr. [4] Shelley (incl. Browning's Essay on; his grave) [4] Shrewsbury, Lord [1] Sidgwick, Mr. A. [1] Siena [2] Silverthorne, Mrs. [2] Simeon, Sir John [1] Smith, Miss (second wife of the poet's grandfather) [1] Smith, Mr. George Murray [1] Southey [1] Spezzia [1] Spiritualism (incl. a pretending medium) [2] Spluegen [1] St. Andrews University [1] St.-Aubin (M. Milsand's residence) [2] St.-Enogat (near Dinard) [1] St.-Pierre la Chartreuse (incl. a tragic occurrence there) [2] Stanley, Dean [1] Stanley, Lady Augusta [1] Stendhal, Henri [2] Sterling, Mr. John [1] Stirling, Mrs. (actress) [1] Story, Mr. and Mrs. William [7] Sturtevant, Miss [1] Sue, Eugene [1]

Tablets, Memorial [3] Tait's Magazine [1] Talfourd, Serjeant [3] Taylor, Sir Henry [1] Tennyson, Mr. Alfred (afterwards Lord Tennyson) [2] Tennyson, Mr. Frederick [1] Thackeray, Miss Annie [1] Thackeray, Mr. W. M. [2] Thaxter, Mrs. (Celia) (Boston, U.S.) [1] Thaxter, Mr. Levi (Boston, U.S.) [1] Thomson, Mr. James: his application of the term 'Gothic' to Browning's work [1] Tittle, Miss Margaret [1] Trelawney, Mr. E. J. (1844) [1] Trifler, The (amateur magazine) [1] True Sun, the (review of 'Strafford') [1]

Universo, Hotel dell' (Venice) [1]

Vallombrosa [1] Venice [6] Vigna, Dr. da (Venice) [1]

Wagner [1] Warburton, Mr. Eliot [1] Watts, Dr. [1] Westminster, Dean of [2] Widman, Counts [1] Wiedemann, Mr. William [1] Williams, Rev. J. D. W. (vicar of Bottisham, Cambs.) [1] Wilson (Mrs. Browning's maid) [6] Wilson, Mr. Effingham (publisher) [1] Wiseman, Mrs. (mother of Cardinal Wiseman) [1] Wolseley, Lady [1] Wolseley, Lord [1] Woolner, Mr. [1] Wordsworth [3] Wordsworth Society, the [2]