His Life and Literature
Browning's age was eventful , but his life had hardly any memorable event to remember . His busy intellectual curiosity and vivid interest in men were found strangely allied to a singular aloofness from the movements and momentous issues of his time . He was born in 1812 , so that in the very year of the Reform Bill , he was about twenty years of age , yet scarcely a note in his writings mark his interest in that forceful erruption of democracy . Any other subsequent event - the Irish Policy , the Corn Laws , the Factory Acts , the Crimean War , the Sepoy Mutiny , or the impact of the Industrial Revolution - seems to have exercised no formative influence on his mind . His poetry , infact , remains wonderfully free from the effects of whatever might have been impressive or interesting in the world around him .
Browning was born in Cumberwall in 1812. His first education was under a private tutor . Subsequently , he went to study at University College , London . Browning started his poetical career quite early . At the age of twenty one , his first work Pauline appeared anonymously . It was followed by some other works . Browning eloped with and married Elizabeth Barrett , the young poetess , at the age of thirty three . That was the only dramatic event of his life . For the next fifteen years , the couple lived in Italy , where so much of Browning's best work was inspired and composed . After the death of his wife in 1861 , he lived mainly in England . Browning died in Venice on December 12 , 1889 .
Browning , it has been well said , is a philosopher first and a poet next . His poetry is particularly remarkable for the high philosophy of life that it propagates . Browning , the poet , is a seer - a prophet- , and his poetical works may rightly be taken as the greatest moral and spiritual force in English poetry .
Browning's chief poetical works are : Dramatic Lyrics , Dramatic Romances , Men and Women , Dramatic Personae , Ring and the Book , etc.
Browning's Poetical Genius
Browning's age was eventful , but his life had no dramatic event , save his romantic elopement with his wife Elizabeth Barrett . He was born in Cumberwall in 1812. His father was a senior clerk of the Bank of England , but he had strong artistic and intellectual tastes . Browning might have inherited his paternal trends and tastes
. Browning started his poetical career quite early , and , at the age of twenty one , as stated already , his first work Pauline appeared anonymously . It was followed by some other works . But before his marriage , Browning's poems received a little recognition .
It was his dramatic elopement with Elizabeth Barrett , the young poetess , at the
age of thirty three , that brought about a new and glorious chapter in his poetic life . For the next fifteen years , the couple lived in Italy , where so much of Browning's best poetry was inspired and composed .
Browning , it has been well said , is a philosopher first , and a poet next . His poetry is particularly remarkable for the high philosophy of life that it propagates . Browning , the poet , is a seer - a prophet , and his work may rightly be taken as the greatest moral and spiritual force in English poetry . There is no scepticism in his spiritual view that has an unconditional trust in God , as echoed in his poem , Rabbi Ben Ezra "
My times be in Thy hand !
Perfect the cup as planned !
Let age approve of youth , and death complete the same . "
Like Tennyson , Browning is a poet - prophet of the Victorian age . He is a prophet of hope . This hope is not for a better state of affairs , but for the bliss of heaven . It is in this belief in the happiness of heaven - in this robust optimism about the divine blessing that the essence of Browning , the poet , is revealed .
His resolute faith in God has resulted in the treatment of earthly failure in a spirit of exultation . Browning has not considered evil an inevitable companion of good . He rather has looked upon it as real as good . To him , evil is a condition of man's moral progress . So he asserts
" God's in his heaven
All's right with the world . "
Browning's poetry is certainly deep . But it is difficult , too . The depth of his thought has often made his expression obscure . Consequently , obscurity has become the chief charge against him . He is , however , not really very difficult at all , although his approach may apparently be so .
While speaking of Browning's obscurity , two remarkable features must be noted in his poetry . These features are his psychological insight and dramatic gift .
In his poetry , Browning has penetrated deep into the motives , which animate human conduct . He has dissected , like a master psychologist , the inner world of men and women - their hopes and aspirations , their love and hatred . Indeed , his poetry powerfully reveals his passion for this kind of psychological analysis , in which he is almost without a peer among the poets of his race .
Again , many of Browning's best poems are monologues - dramatic monologues . They are dramatic pieces in the first person about some vital experiences in the life of an imaginary narrator . This is , no doubt , a novelty in his poetic method , and constitutes much of the charm of his poetry .
As a poet , Browning is a controversial figure . His robust optimism , vigorous zest for life and keen sense of realism are , no doubt , highly appreciable . But his obscurity , oracular utterances , and excessive sagacity have undermined much of the merit of his poetry . Nevertheless , along with his great contemporary Tennyson , he shares prominently the chief glory of Victorian poetry .
Soport Jer Browning's chief poetical works , as already indicated , are Dramatic Lyrics , Dramatic Romances , Men and Women , Dramatic Personae , The Ring and The Book , etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment