Chapter 2

BROWNING'S MIND AND ART.

IX. THE POET 237 I. Divergent psychical tendencies of Browning--"romantic" temperament, "realist" senses--blending of their _données_ in his imaginative activity--shifting complexion of "finite" and "infinite" 237 II. His "realism." Plasticity, acuteness, and veracity of intellect and senses 239 III. But his realism qualified by energetic individual preference along certain well-defined lines 245 IV. _Joy in Light and Colour_ 246 V. _Joy in Form_. Love of abruptness, of intricacy; clefts and spikes 250 VI. _Joy in Power_. Violence in imagery and description; in sounds; in words. Grotesqueness. Intensity. Catastrophic action. The pregnant moment 257 VII. _Joy in Soul_. 1. Limited in Browning on the side of simple human nature; of the family; of the civic community; of myth and symbol 266 VIII. _Joy in Soul_. 2. Supported by Joy in Light and Colour; in Form; in Power. 3. Extended to (a) sub-human Nature, (b) the inanimate products of Art; Relation of Browning's poetry to his interpretation of life 272

X. THE INTERPRETER OF LIFE 287 I. Approximation of God, Man, Nature in the thought of the early nineteenth century; how far reflected in the thought of Browning 287

II. Antagonistic elements of Browning's intellect; resulting fluctuations of his thought. Two conceptions of Reality. Ambiguous treatment of "Matter"; of Time 290

III. Conflicting tendencies in his conception of God 295

IV. Conflicting tendencies in his treatment of Knowledge 297

V. Proximate solution of these antagonisms in the conception of Love 300

VI. Final estimate of Browning's relation to the progressive and conservative movements of his age 304

INDEX 310