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World of Poetry-Lovers to Celebrate Centenary of Birth of Browning.
ONE hundred years ago next Tues?
day was born that "high master
of strong-winged vors>," des?
tined to bring to his net a power and
method not unakln to those of Wag?
ner in music or or Rodin In sculpture.
His looks and traits, -harm of manner
? nd versatilities; the arguments pro and
con as to his obsrurltles of style; his
romantic courtship and perfect wedded
life.
Compiled by
- WARWICK JAMES PRICE.
A LIFE OF LOVE
ANSWERING LOVE
AND HONOR FOLLOW
ING GOOD WORK
"Externally, Browning's life was far
from sensational: ho Was horn, lived
and died in a conventional atmos?
phere. "?H, A. Beers,
May 7. 1812?Born at CaSJbcrwelt,
jnear London. England.
June lt. iM2 ? Baptized at the York
Btreet "dissenting chapel," being
named after his father, a bank clerk,
who was also a book-lover and a clave r
carlcat urlst,
Largely self-educated, with that
father's aid, h's other schooling in?
cluded a year at I'eckham, three years
under a tutor (182G-'29) and four
months' lectures (1329-'30) at l.'ni
verslty College._ Ijondon. He an?
nounced in after' life, "I am a gradu?
ate of the University of Italy.'? and
quoted tin "lie Oustllius") his own
creed Queen Marie's couplet:
Open my heart and you will tee
Graved Inside of it "Italy!*
I S33-'.H?Traveled in Italy and
Rutsla, thinking of ? diplomatic ca?
reer.
J<*n^-'If ?devoted himself to letters,
Issuing three volumes of verse an!
eeven dramatic poomr.
May 1844?Kcnyon thence, there?
after called by the poet "The Joy
giver"), introduced him to Elisabeth
Barrett, "In an Invalid-darkened room
on Wimpole Street." She was three
years RohrrtV senior, ? < deep, earnest,
Impulsive nature, who "had written
an epic on ?.Marathon' at eleven, an
'Essay on Mind' at sixteen, and a
translation of Aeschylus at twenty
four." Leigh Hunt had haMcd her as
"the most imaginative poetess that
"has appeared In England ? perhaps in
Kurope. .She Is an Ultra-sensltiVC sis?
ter to Lord Tennyson.
After two years of friendship, main?
ly carried on through correspondence,
es the father of the Invalid not only
disapproved of Browning, but thought
Elisabeth should be prcpnrlng to die,
the two were secretly married at the
Church of st. Marylcb?he (September
12. IStC). and noon after crossed to
the Continent. Barrett was never
reconciled to the mutch. although
"Browning's devoted |ovo soon brought
eolor to the wan checks and the truest
toy Into a life starved for it." (W. R.
NICOll.)
The honeymoon laste^ fifteen years,
-pent in Italy for the most part, though
there were occasional visits to Paris
and three tr'ps back to England; "a
perfect life of sympathy, trust and
lose." (F. V. N. rainier.)
March P. 1849?Robert Barrett
Browning born at Casa Guida Palace.
Florence.
June 23. 1SS1?Heath of Kllzabeth
Barrett Browning. "Beautiful" was
the last word she was heard to utter.
September, 1861 ? Browning returned
to London, taking tip his home at
1? Warwick Crescent, his father living
with him till his death, five years
later.
From 1850 to ,870 Browning had
been wondered at rather than follow?
ed; from 1STO tin his passing in ISSD
he stood forth an Intellectual force of
first magnitude. His first academic
recognition had been an honorary M.
A. from Oxford. In the spring of lfi.'.T.
but in the last two decades of his life
both the great universities hung the
hoods of 1?. C. L and l.l,. D. on his
shoulders, he was made a life governor
of the University of London, honorary
president of the Associated .Societies
of Kdlnburg. and a foreign correspond?
ent of the Itoyal Academy. Ho was
offered, too, the rectorships of Glas?
gow and of St. Andrews, but declined
the honors. His only public address
was delivered (April IT. lRSt > when
he was given a degree by Edinburgh
University.
August, 1ST*?Visited Italy for the
first time since his wife's death: also
returned for brief stays In 1888 and
1889.
1'887?Moved from Warwick Crescent
KUZABHTII BAU IIKTT BROTTNMG.
to 23 Do Vere Garden*. Kensington
'"lore, hl? only sister, Sariuuu, keeping
house for lilm.
December 12. 1883?Died in the
Venetian home of his son. Palazzo
Rezzonjco. "When the nows was
Ttashcu from Venice that Robert
Browning had died men felt as of old
they felt when a great King had
passed away."?Stopford Brooke.
December 31. 1SS??Burled In the
Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.
Gone from us: That strong singer of
late days?
(.Sweet singers should bo strong ?
who. tarrying here.
Choose still rough music for his
themes austere.
Hard-headed, aye, but tender-hearted
lays.
Carefully careless, garden half, half
maze.
Ills thoughts he sang, deep thoughts
to thinkers dear.
Now flashing under gleam of smile or
tear.
Now veiled In language like a breezy
haze.
Chance-pierced by sunbeams from the
lake it covers.
He sang man's ways?not heights of
sage or saint.
Not highways broad, not haunts en-!
deared to lovers;
He sang life's .byways, sang Its angles
quaint.
Its runic lore inscribed on stave or
slone;
Song's short-hand strain?its key oft
his alone.
(Aubrey DeVere. in Maemillan's
Magazine, February, l&so.i
LOOKED NOT AT ALL THE
POET HE WAS; HIS
STRENGTH AND
TRAITS AND IDEALS
"A square, solidly built man. with hair !
white hair and beard, dressed In
rough pray cloth, and wearing
an a:r of bourgeoisie dignity
and pleasant bonhomie. ? ? ? .vjy
imagination helped me to recog?
nize Immediately the signs of
genius in the broad forehead and pene?
trating eves under'their heavy brows." j
?"Theodor,. Bentzon" (lime. Blanc.)
Few ever spoke of Browning as
handsome, "purposeful looking" and
, "of a fine poise" were the more usual
j phrajies. "He has the repose of a
man who has lived mueh in the open
air. with no nervous uneasiness and no;
. unhealthy self-consciousness."?George
S. Hillard. I
Iiis swarthy complexion occasioned
I many comments. Moncuro D. Conway
; wrote: "Rossctti always contended
) there was something Semitic in Brown-1
Ing's fine countenance, and the fact
i that his father had been a clerk Of]
1 the Rothschilds gave plausibility to
I the supposition." and William Sharp
has added to this: "In his exuberant
I vitality. In his sensuous love of music
1 and the other arts in his combined I
imaginativeness and shrewdness or,
common sense, in his superficial e.\- ,
pansivencss and actual reticence, lie :
would have been typical enough Of
tlie potent and artistic race for whom I
ROBERT BROWXKVG,
Born 3Iaj- 7, 1812.
The Falor.zn Metronid?, Venice, home of Hebert rtnrrett nrorrnlnsr, rrhere 111"
famous father died on December 12, IKSft.
The undent Cma Guldl iinlner. In Flor ence, where most of "a fifteen years'
honcyiuuon" was epent.
ho has; no often of late been claimed-"
lie was of a quiet, simple bohavour,'
though cordial and of courtly man- !
"1 ha<i no idea there was a perfectly
sensible poet In the world, free en?
tirely from vanity. Jealousy, or nny
other littleness and thinking no mo .
uf himself than If he were an ordinary
man."?Benjamin Jowett.
"In my memory he will always live
as the most cordial man I ever knew
Never can I forget how, on your en?
trance, he would rise from his chair,
advaince to met you with both arms
outstretched, and cover you with a
rich bounty of welcome."?Augustine
Blrrell.
"My first aid last impression of him
was that he resembled one of our old
school Southern country gentlemen
more than my ideal of England's mys?
tic poet.' ?Mary Anderson de Navarro.
"His was a truly catholic spirit, ever
holding high Ideals; eager and of a
consistent energy; enthusiastic, vital,
versatile."?W. J. Dawson.
What has been well termed the
man's "fundamental optimism" sounds
clear in what are, perhaps, his fiv'e
best known lines:
One who never turned his back, but
marched breast forward.
Never doubted clouds would break.
Never dreamed, though right were
worsted, wrong would triumph;
ners.
THOMSONS
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There must be a reason?we call it the
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THIRTY VOLUMES OF
NOBLE VERSE MARKED
?iaI i-riVt OF A BUSY
SEVENTY-SEVEN YEARS
i
1S24 ? (When only 12), "Incondita." A
gathering of juvenile. ByronJe verse,]
privately printed by his father, (Soon
after Shelley came to be his admira?
tion, aind so continued to be for the
rest of life;.
I83S?"Pauline." Issuej anonymous?
ly and not a success, though Rossetti
thought so well of it that he copied
it all in the British Museum.
1534? '?Waring." Anonymous; and i
dedicated to Alfred Doniott.
1535? (March). "Paracelsus." This'
won him a name in literary circles and
the frionship of such as Hunt, Carlyle,
Milnes, Harry. Procter, and the actor,,
Macready, who wrote of it: "A work
'?{ great daring, starred with poetry of I
thouglu, feeling, diction, but Occa-|
Slonally obscure." Apropos of this'
"Obscurity" debate, Q. w. Smalley has'
said: "When appealed to, Browning
no more professed always to know '
what he had meant than Rufus Choate ;
to decipher his own handwriting utter j
a lapse of time."
1S37. (May Ii?"Strafford." the first1
of ten dramatic poems, produced at
Covont Garden Theatre. Although the!
cast was headed by Macready and ?
Helen Fauclt, the piece lasted only tlvc i
nights.
1840?"Sordello." From this sprang
most of the "obscurity" talk. Alfred
Tennyson said he could understand
only the first and last lines: Jane1
(Carlylo couldn't make out whether ?
Sordello was a man, a city or a book;
Fitzgerald and Matthew Arnold an. i
nouneed their inability to read it, and
Edmund Gossi has summed up with
"it Is written In crabbed shorthand." i
"Bells and pomegranates" appeared [
In the following eight parts:
IStl? (I) "Pippa Passes." "The'
greatest poem over written (with the j
exception of ont or two my Whitman)
to express the sentiment of the pure ,
love of humanity."?Gilbert K. Ohes- I
terton.
1812?(II) "King Victor and King:
Charles."
1812?(III) "dramatic. Lyrics."
1843?(IV) The Return of the
Druses."
1843?(V) "Tho Blot on the
Scutcheon." Played for three nights at
Drury Lane Theatre.
1S44?(VI) "Coiombe's Birthday.''
Produced at th.: llaymarket In April,
1853.
I lSt??(VII) "Dramatic Romances and
Lyrics." i
1S4C? (VIII) "I.uria; and a Soul's
Tragedy." Reviewing this work In
131S, James Russell Lowell wrote in
the North American Review: "To us
he appears to have a wider ranpo
and greater freedom of movement
than any other of tho younger Eng?
lish poets."
1845?"Saul." "One of those superb
outbursts of poetic force. ? ? ? It
sweeps along eager, impetuous, resist?
less as tho streams which descend
from the Alps and rush seaward with
joy."?Hamilton W. Mnble.
1850?"Christmas Evo and Easter
Day." "Full of pathos and humor; full
of beauty and Ki'andeur, earnestness
and truth."?fleorgn Macdonald.
1852?An essay on tho letters of
ffhelley; his only prose production.
1855?? Men and Women." "The book
The room In the houxr nt Anolo, where . nioet of IlroiTnlnsr'a "Aeolonilo" wns
written.. .
by which Browning was host known."
Here was the heart of his gen'us beat?
ing most strenuously and with an
immortal vitality. Perhaps this. foe
its compass. Is the collection of po.-try
the most various and rich of modern
English times, almost of any English
times."?Andrew Lang.
1S62?"rrosplcp." "A cry af pas?
sionate exaltation." consecrating tho
memory of the wife wiio Just had
died.
1S64?"Dramatis Porsonac."
lstis-isctt (November-February) ?
"The Hing and the Book." This, with
it.- 21,000 lines, the longest poem in
the language, was reviewed by "The
Athenaeum" as "The most profound
and precious spiritual treasure that
English has produced since Shakes?
peare." Robert Louis Stevenson wrote
of it in 1SS1: "Tho noblest hook of
this century "
IS71?"Balnustion's Adventure."
1871 ?"Prince flohenstlel-Schwan
gau."
1872?"Flflne at the Fair." R?S
setti's long friendship with Browning
Came to an end through an unfounded
Bloom of Youth
Now Easily Attained
(From Popular Science.)
You no longer need to "doctor" that
sallow, freckled, blackheaded, rough,
blotchy, pimply or over-red skin. You
ran remove it, instead?easily, painlessly,
inexpensively. By a new scientific pro?
cess, which any one ran use without as?
sistance, the dead and near-dead surface
skin, with all its imperfections, is gently,
gradually absorbed?and a radiantly
youthful and beautiful complexion comes
fort hi Go to your druggist, get an ounce
of pure mcrcolized wax; at night apply
enough of this to completely cover tho
face; don't rub it in. Next morning re?
move the wax with warm water. The
result after a few day s is astonishing. You
wonder why this secret wasn't, discovered
long ago.
Let the wrinkled, pouchy.checked,
double-chinned folks also take hope. Put.
an ounce of powdered saxolitc into a half
pint witch hazel, bathe the face in the
solution and?say!?there's nothing that
will so effectually, so promptly, smooth
out the hateful lines and draw in the sags
and bags. You'll lind this lotion, as well
as mercolizcd wax, works equally well on
neck and hands.
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Brushes from 25c to $2.25 at
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I'HU In Kcd en.I Uold r.ti.L.AVJ
b?iej. stilt,! with Blue RlU-on. V/
Tab? n? other, lti.y or inor "
l.'rn.al.t. Mkfprrift.l irtivTI'RO
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SOLD BY DRUGGISTS EVERYWHEBf
suspicion that', In some lines of this
podm, he had been attacked.
1S73?"The Red Cotton Night-Cap
Country."
1S73?"Aristophanes' Apology."
1S70?"The Inn Album." "This Is a
decidedly irritating and displeasing |
performance. It reads like a series
of rough notes for a poem??hnsty
hieroglyphs and symbols, decipherable
only to the author himself.' A great
poem might perhaps have been made
f It, but assuredly it Is not a great
Doem, nor any poem whatsoever."?
Uonry James.
(At the close of 1S7"> Browning was
receiving not more than $1,000 a year
;rom his writings.)
1S7C?"Pacchlarotto."
1S77?A translation of the "Agamem?
non" oC Aeschylus.
1S7S?"La Snislaz."
1S79?"Drnmatle Idylls."
18S;i?"Joeoserla."
IS 8t?"Ferlahtah's Fancies.'!
1SS7?"Parleylngs With Certain reo?
rder
1SS9?"Asolando." Written at Asolo,
It appeared the day of the author's
death.
GREAT MEN FOR
TWO GENERATIONS
HAVE PRAISED
HIS VALUED LABORS
Browning! Since Chaucer was alive
and hale
No man hath walked along our road3
with Ktep
So active, so Inquiring eye, or tongue
So varied in discourse.
?Walter Savage Landor.
The manliest, strongest, deepest and
thoughtfullest poet of our time?F. J.
Furnlvall.
The brawniest neo-Elizabethan Titan '
whom our age has seen, und whom It
has latterly chosen to adore.?John
Addlngton Symonds.
Beyond nil comparison the highest
and strongest intelligence that Eng?
lish poetry has known sinco Shakes?
peare.?J. J. Jusserand.
lie compels attention, oven when ho
excites dislike. Tho two qualities
which strike me most In his poetry
are: An intensification of the dramatic
faculty, and the singularity of the
method by which it Is ovolved. He Is
the. greatest dramatic poet since
Shakespeare, and, like Shakespeare's,
his art is unique?Richard Henry Stod
dard,
Iliirh among the poets of all time,
and 1 scarce know whether first or
second In our own.?William Morris.
In strength and depth of passion and
pathos, in wild humor, in emotion of
every kind. Browning |s much superior
to Tennyson. The poet laureate Is.
however, much the completer man.?
Justin McCarthy.
One whose verse is a metrical para?
dox. I have called him ' the most
original and the most unequal of liv?
ing poets, he continually descends t?
a prosaic, level, but at times is ele
vated to the laureate's highest flights.
Edmund Clarence Stcdman.
In case i were going to prison ami*
could have but one book. 1 should
think It a calamity to have Tennyson,
offered me instead of Browning, simply
because Browning has proved, himself.
to possess, for me at least, so much
more staying power.?Thomas Wont
worth Hlgginson.
i
Ho set the trumpet to his Hps. and 10!
Tho clash of waves, the roar of wind?
that blow.
The strife and stress of Nature's
warring things.
Rose like a storm-cloud, upon angry
wings.
He set the reed-pipe to his Hps, and
lo!
The wreck of landscape took a rosy
glow.
And life, and love, and gladness that
love brings,
Laugh< d In the music, like a child
that sings.
? Austin Doh3on.
The wide range of his work Is one
of his strongest characteristics, and
ho is remarkable for the depth und
versatility of his knowledge of human
nature. No poet wns ever more
learned, exact, and thorough.?F. W.
Farrar.
Tho pathos, the power, at times tho
humor, of the singular soul, studies
which he was so fond of projoctlng
with little accessory of background
upon his canvas, could not bo denied,
and have not often been excelled.-?
George Sainlabury.
Ho Is unerring in every sentence he
writes of th'- Middle Ages; always
vital, right, and profound: so that in
tho matter of art there is hardly a
principle connected with the mediaeval
temper that he has not struck upon in
those too rugged rhymes of his.?John
Ruskin.
He is the Intellectual phenomenon
of the last half century, even If he
Is not the poetical aloe of modern
Kngllsh literature. Ills like wo hayo
never seen before. He is not what
ho is by mero excelling. No writer
that ever wrought out his fretted
fancies in English verse Is the m?del
of him, either in large, or in one trait
or trick of style.?Richard Grant
White.
The works of words whose life seems
lightning wrought,
And molded of unconquerable thought.
And quickened with Imperishablo
flume.
Stand fast and shine and smile, as?
sured that noght
May fade of all their myriad-molded
fame.
Nor England's memory clasp not
Browning's name.
?Algernon Charles Swinburne.
UPLIFTING LINES
FROM A MASTER PEN
TEACHING LESSONS
TO ALL THE WORLD
Hod is the perfect poet,
Who in Ills person acts His Own cl'ea*
lions.
? Paracelsus.
it" ?
Progress Is
Tho law of life: man is nut Man as!
yet.
?Paracelsus.
In the morning of the world.
When earth was nlgher hcavon than
now.
? PIppa Passes.
God's In His l-.enven:
All's right with the world.
?PIppa Passes.
All service ranks the fame with God ?
With God, whose puppets, best and
worst,
Are we: there is no last nor first.
?PIppa Passes.
Whom Is man strong until ho feel!
alone?
?Colombo's Birthday.
i
When the fight begins within himself,
A man's worth something.
? Bishop Blougram's Apology.
God he thanked, the meanest of His
creatures
Boasts two soul-sides?one to face the
world with.
One to show a woman when he loves
her!
?One Word More.
f
That's the wise thrush; he sings each
song twice over.
Lest you should think he never could
recapture
The first line careless rapture.
?Home Thoughts From Abroad.
I
I count life Just a stuff
To try the soul's strength on.
?In a Balcony.
On the eorth the broken arcs; In the
heaven a perfect round.
?Abt Vogler.
What 1 aspired to be.
And was not, comforts me.
?Rabbi Ben Kzra.
Rut how carve way I' the life that lies
before.
If bent on groaning ever for the past?
?Balaustlon's Adventure.
Of what I call Ood, and fools call
Nature.
?The Ring and the Book.
Why comes temptation, but for man
to meet
And master and make crouch beneath
his foot.
And so be pedestaled in triumph?
?The Ring and the Book.
A Physician
Cures His Wife
Of Consumption
?JJrlth A Simple Home Treatment.
Book Fully Describing the Treat*
ment Sent Absolutely Free
To Any Lung Sufferer.
Dr. W. H. KNIOHT of East Saugus. Mass., writosi
My -.vlfo iru do\ro with Consumption, whoa 1
ordered tho Lloyd treatment. 8h? was vory weak
from night sweats, couch, and In a feverleh eon<ll<
?Ion. I noticed a chains for the batter after tea
aar? treatment. And from that time, oa op io three
mouths, when tho curs was completed. Tho Mord
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And tissue, ami It is the only remedy so far dis?
covered that will do this. It Is a preventive as wall
as A cure. It should bo used by thosa who are ran
down, or thoso who fear tho approach of Consump?
tion. It can bo truthfully said that tor tho our*
and prevention of Consumption, tt Is tho moil won?
derful treatment of tho present age. "
This Is only one of hundreds of letters reeelred
from physician* and others repotting cases of con?
sumption snd lung trouble restored to health In ?11
sections ot ihn United States. Wi want to send
? vory lung sufferer absolutely tree the startling
? tstaments of Dr. W. II. Mester of Dayton, Ohio,
Dr. c. O. Pi nek art of Kansas City, Jlo., Dr. J. H.
Ward of Troy, Ho., and many others who report r*.
suits almost beyond bailer, together with a val?
uable booklet on tho cause, prevention And treat,
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if you aro suffering from weakness, blood.upll
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toss of flesh, painful lat.ga, dtitretslDg cough,"
WASted body, loss of strength?write mo today awt
I'll send y..a ABSOLUTELY VRF.K the awot-ftattt.
mony of msny who. afli
distressing ayrapionit.
cr ii F.d. strong, abla to work, wltho'jt arbe or pain,
happy, full of praise, afer a few month's nit of
this simple home treatment, 8-nd yner cues >,4
