Robert Browning is a famous British poet and playwright who lived in the 19th century. His father served in a bank. As a child, little Robert was passionately carried away by poetry, moreover, romantic. He traveled a lot, even visited Russia in 1833.
Romantic poet
Robert Browning was born in London in 1812, when the Napoleonic wars were in full swing. Despite this, parents paid great attention to the education of their son. He mastered the subjects of the school curriculum at home.
Numerous travels also played a large role in his self-education and development as an individual. Subsequently, he called them his faculties, and Italy did consider him his Oxford.
Like many young men of his generation, in his youth he became interested in the work of the main British romantic - Byron, in his work he followed his romantic principles.
First poems
The father dreamed that his son would engage in some practical activity, for example, would follow in his footsteps to work in a bank. However, Robert had a different opinion. At the age of 16, he came across the romantic works of Shelley and Keats. By his own admission, their poems made him a poet.
In his early works, Robert Browning clearly imitates Byron. For example, in the ballad "Death of Harold." As a result, he devoted himself entirely to the profession of a poet.
In 1831, his first poem entitled Paulina was published. Shelley's pantheism, a philosophical doctrine that identifies the world and God, and its penchant for Hellenism, are especially noticeable in it. Browning's first work was rather weak, but critics reacted favorably to him. Their positive reviews and reviews opened his way to the prestigious British literary circle, which at that time already included Dickens, Wordsworth, and many others.
Traveling in Europe
Robert Browning travels a lot. In 1833, at the age of 21, he was sent to Russia. Here he writes the poem "Ivan Ivanovich."
The next item on his trip is Italy. Here he concocts his, perhaps, the best lyrical drama "Pippa Passes By," as well as his most mysterious and mysterious thing, "Sordello."
Returning to his homeland, Browning decides to abandon life in London in favor of silence and solitude. In the Dulwich Forest, he ends the mysterious drama Sordello, as well as other plays - Paracelsus and Strafford. The latter will soon be staged, but with little success.
The Browning Marriage
At 37, the poet decides on a wedding. In 1849, Robert Browning becomes married, his biography is now associated with the English poetess Elizabeth Barrett.
Browning's wife was a sickly girl who could not tolerate the harsh British climate. Therefore, the couple had to move to a more favorable place to live - in sunny Florence. Here they lived for about 10 years, occasionally visiting their native London. However, Elizabeth was not able to completely get rid of the diseases, in 1861 she died.
Robert Browning was happy in marriage, the poetry of the poet of this period is a vivid confirmation of this. In his work comes a mood of calm and spiritual harmony. Almost all the time they spent with his wife in their villa in Florence, in which they always made many friends - writers and creative personalities. Guests note that the homely atmosphere was saturated with high poetry and love.
After the death of his wife, Browning and his son return to London, where he continues his literary work. Prints a cycle of poems "The Ring and the Book", "Actors".
At the same time, his son returns to Italy, settles in Venice. In one of his next visits to the Apennine Peninsula in 1889, Browning dies. He was 77 years old.
"Abbot Vogler"
One of Robert Browning's most famous poems is "Abbot Vogler." In 1864, she was included in the collection "Actors". The work is dedicated to a real historical character - the abbot, who lived from 1749 to 1814. He served as bandmaster at court in Prussian Mannheim. He became famous for the invention of a new kind of organ.
The poem represents the emotional experience of the abbot during his performance of improvisations on the organ. At the same time he sees the City of the Lord, however, as soon as the music stops, a clear image is immediately erased from the memory of the lyrical hero.
He is very worried about this and only at the end of the poem comes to the conclusion that beauty, like any fame, is impermanent. This is the meaning of the work of Robert Browning "Abbot Vogler". The poem ends with the conviction that the main thing for a person is that God hears his beautiful melodies. And everything else is vanity and vanity.
"Pippa Passes By"
In the list of key works of Browning appears the lyric drama "Pippa Passes By." In the center of the story is a young worker living in the town of Azollo. Her thoughts are pure, she sincerely loves nature and people. She is beautiful, strong and happy, realizing that before God, the merits of all people look equal.
On New Year's Eve, she observes the life of her fellow citizens. Many of them are happy, but Pippa does not envy them. She is innocent, and her thoughts are filled with wild freedom. She sings, crying out for love and virtue. Her song is heard by lovers - Zebald and Ottima, who had just committed a crime - killed Ottima's husband. Under the influence of the girl, they decide to atone for the crime by suffering and their death.
The beautiful song of the lyrical heroine is heard by the young artist Julius, who decides to return to his beloved, whom he abandoned. So Pippa walks the streets of his town, transforming the life of the people around her. This poem is rightfully considered one of the best in 19th century English poetry.
"Ring and book"
An example of a true masterpiece of the poet is the poem "The Ring and the Book." Robert Browning, whose poems were extremely popular at the time, writes works based on an old Italian legend. It tells of the murder by Count Guido Francesca of his wife Pompilia for allegedly cheating on him.
The poem consists of 12 books. Each of them is a statement by one of the characters of his vision of how events developed. With the help of this technique, the whole picture appears before us. The poem does not have a single plot and a strict sequence of development of actions. The main thing that the author pays attention to is the characters and state of mind of his heroes.
One of the most piercing and sincere books of the poem is a monologue of the wife of Count Pompilia, who is pure and blameless, but forced to take the blow of fate. With Pippa from the previous work of Browning, Pompilius is united by naivety, purity. This is one of the most famous works that Robert Browning wrote. Quotes from it are still diverging.
White poems
In 1835, Browning wrote a dramatic poem in white poems - "Paracelsus". In the preface to the work, the author immediately admits that when working on this poem he abandoned the traditional rules of dramatic art. The reason for this is that the main thing for the author was the internal, emotional experiences of the heroes, and not the development of external events.
Browning was deeply interested in science, so he chooses the mysterious alchemist Paracelsus, who lived in the Middle Ages, as the hero of the poem. In it, the poet depicts the struggle of a high human soul with the obstacles that stand in its way. There are also mystical notes. The author of the description was especially successful.
Another tragedy of the same period is “Stain on the Coat of Arms”. This time, Browning is inferior to traditional concepts of dramatic art. It is written in the style of sensational dramas, and ends completely in the Shakespearean spirit - almost all the heroes die. True, they commit suicide at Browning, and do not kill each other, as is mainly the case in the tragedies of Shakespeare.
Philosopher poet
One of the most striking poets of his era is Robert Browning. Today we can see his photo in small numbers, mostly paintings and drawings by the poet. An elderly, but handsome man with a full beard, a mustache and a slight ironic smile looks at us from them.
By recognition of literary scholars, Browning is a profound philosophical poet. Very often, the thought that he wants to convey to his reader greatly exceeds the artistry of the work. All this leads to the fact that Browning's works are often foggy and obscure. As a result, a peculiar fashion even appeared in England - guessing the thoughts inherent in Browning's poems.
A vivid example of what such a free interpretation of the poet’s works can lead to is the poem "Child Roland." Many fans of the poem mistakenly saw in her a new worldview, guided by which they even wanted to establish a separate philosophical school. However, Browning disappointed his fans, explaining to them that this poem was written in the genre of fiction, and in just two days, the author had no philosophical component in it.
In his works, Browning demonstrates his faith in the existence of the afterlife. For him, this is a reward for the life he spent on earth.
At the same time, he imagines earthly life in bright colors. The only thing that can overshadow a person is sorrows and earthly passions, but there is also salvation from them. This is faith in God. However, Browning would not have remained in the history of English literature alone.
His main achievement is a masterful depiction of human passions and lyrical landscapes. Often his heroes are exemplary carriers of truth and pure truth. Such as Pippa or Pompilia.