Chapter 3

1833-1841

Browning Visits Russia--"Paracelsus"--Recognition of Wordsworth and Landor--"Strafford"--First Visit to Italy--Mrs. Carlyle's Baffled Reading of "Sordello"--Lofty Motif of the Poem--The Universal Problem of Life--Enthusiasm for Italy--The Sibylline Leaves Yet to Unfold 26