Chapter 1

BROWNING'S LIFE AND WORK.

CHAP.

I. EARLY LIFE. _PARACELSUS_ 1

II. ENLARGING HORIZONS. _SORDELLO_ 24

III. MATURING METHODS. DRAMAS AND DRAMATIC LYRICS 37 Introduction. I. Dramas. From _Strafford_ to _Pippa Passes_ 42 II. From the _Blot in the 'Scutcheon_ to _Luria_ 51 III. The early Dramatic Lyrics and Romances 65

IV. WEDDED LIFE IN ITALY. _MEN AND WOMEN_ 74 I. January 1845 to September 1846 74 II. Society and Friendships 84 III. Politics 88 IV. Poems of Nature 91 V. Poems of Art 96 VI. Poems of Religion 110 VII. Poems of Love 132

V. LONDON. _DRAMATIS PERSONÆ_ 148

VI. _THE RING AND THE BOOK_ 169

VII. AFTERMATH 187

VIII. THE LAST DECADE 220