The Best Is Yet to Be
A look into the life and accomplishment of Robert Browning
During Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s
lifetime her husband’s poems were criticized as obscure; today Barrett
Browning is famed for “How do I love thee, let me count the ways,” but
little else when compared to the tomes of poetry memorialized in the
name of Robert Browning. That either poet has known public approval is
by no account a surprise. The fact that the fame seems divided between
them at any given time is, however, somewhat shocking to those that
intimately know each author’s works. In reaction to these elements, a
critically aware composition centered on the lives and times of the
Brownings. Robert, mainly, with Elizabeth and Providence close in
following.
Barrett
and Browning certainly seem to have been made for each other. Both born
studious and talented, they prodigies: mastering certain areas of
knowledge years in advance of their supposed peers. The situations in
which they learned, however, could not have been more different.
Barrett studied under house arrest. Seldom leaving the comfort of her
room, she learned Greek, Latin, French, Italian and Portuguese. In each
of these languages she found numerous books to read for pleasure. She
also studied Hebrew in order to read the Old Testament in its original
language. Her father is historically regarded as an over-bearing prison
warden who forbade Elizabeth a normal life in favor of the Emily
Dickinson method-isolation. More on this later.
As
Robert Browning shared Barrett’s intense love of knowledge it is no
great wonder they studied similar languages and poets. Attending a
private grammar school, Browning learned many European languages:
French, Italian, Greek, Latin. At fourteen he received no further
schooling but chose to study under tutors. His father, a banker, was
also a man of letters and owned an impressive personal library with
over 6,000 books. There was never a droughtperiod in Browning’s
education.
It was while Browning stayed at The Misses Ready’s boarding school in Pecham that his first collection of poems was completed. Incondita
is suspected of having been written for young Eliza Flower, a daughter
of friends of the family (Jolly). Unable to find a publisher for the
work, his parents had to settle for their own pride in their son’s
enthusiasm for writing and a productive childhood. The poems showed
some level of promise, but none of the oomph and scope seen in his
later poems-especially the dramatic monologues. Again, more on this
later.
Browning
kept on developing; yet, according to the critics, his works suffered
from emotional detachment and the obscure references that over-educated
types are want to practice. Such as the next collection of love
inspired poems, Pauline, which the Cambridge History of English
rightly refers to as, “a confused rendering of vague dreams and
seething sentiments and passions.” This effort brought him little fame
in England and certainly none further removed from home.
Next came Paracelsus.
This is where our young poet began to show his true Victorian color.
According to the Bedford Glossary, a Victorian is known by “a generally
wistful, elegiac mood”(Murfin, Ray, 417). He walks a thin line. Neither
priggish nor ribald, he is also neither atheist nor religious. Due to
industrial advancement, science and nature equally comfort him. Paracelsus
reflects these ideas, as the main character both seeks intellectual
mastery of love, and love’s mastery of intellect. The piece does
succeed. It earns Browning more recognition than he had previously
seen, in addition to a reputation for furthering the ideals of
Shelley-a hero, in whose honor he previously became a vegan and an
atheist.
When young poet Elizabeth Barrett referenced him in one of her poems from Poems,
it is not surprising he sought her out. The line, which showed not only
respect for Browning but also great promise, read thus: “Or from
Browning some pomegranate which, if cut deep down the middle,/ Shows a
heart of blood-tinctured of a veined humanity.” Browning was instantly
intrigued and flattered. He wrote a letter to Barrett requesting
audience and was invited to meet the poet in her father’s home in May
1845. The meeting went well and was followed by another eight months of
courting. Every single rendezvous was held under Barrett’s father’s
roof, and consequently, his eye.
Having
already moved once due to economic struggle, it was not surprising that
Barrett’s family was to move again in 1846. Although they were
privileged-indeed, by modern standards they were
multimillionaires-twelve children and a sickly (then dead) mother
adversely affected their socio-economic condition. When the move was
made, Barrett and Browning were not there. On September 12, 1846 they
were married at St. Marylebone Parish Church in London. This was their
first meeting beyond the scrutinizing gaze of Mr. Barrett. As in Robert
Louis Stevenson’s marriage to Fanny Van de Grift Osborne, there was an
age gap between husband and wife. In both cases the wife was the elder
of the pairing. Barrett Browning was six years older than Robert.
Stevenson, much to the dissatisfaction of his entire family, married
Fanny, an American divorcee ten years his senior (Kidnapped
pre-flyleaf). As Barrett’s father had forbade each of his twelve
children to marry-and never spoke, wrote, or met with his deviant poet
daughter again-the parallel is made all the more striking.
During
their engagement young Miss Barrett and Browning had exchanged hundreds
of letters. There are 573 of her letters that remain. Contained in a 2
volume set that was edited by a relative of a friend in 1897, those
early letters, and more so those later in life, show the dedication
between Barrett and Browning that few are blessed enough to know.
Throughout there is little talk of discord and strife-at least between
themselves. Yet life dealt them much difficulty that would have severed
a weaker union. The letters reveal their suffering: they discuss
Barrett Browning’s three miscarriages, her near invalid state for which
morphine and opium were at separate times prescribed. Her use of opium
had been nearly continual after her fall from a horse at age fifteen.
Something that should have caused distress, or rather could have-never
caused a single tiff: her fame was triple his.
Aurora Leigh was
published to nothing but acclaim. Barrett Browning made a remarkable
income from its multiple publications(Landow). The critics, having
never taken too strongly to Browning, praised his wife’s book in its
entirety. Though Browning’, Men and Women published a year
before, attracted some public notice, it garnered, mostly, more
critical accusations of obscurity and intellectual obsessions: hardly
the hosannas his wife received.
It was after his wife’s death, in 1861 that Browning’s career flourished. After publication of The Ring and the Book
in 1868, Browning saw himself invited into mainstream society. During
his wife’s last years-and also her healthy ones-Browning had chosen to
avoid large gatherings and a city-based social life. Studious in nature
he preferred to be studious in Nature. But after his wife’s death,
unable to commit himself to a life of grief and unable to communicate
effectively with his son, Browning turned to the popular life his
writing had finally earned him.
During
this period, Browning received an honorary Doctorate from Oxford
University. This is worth noting because he had once attended London
University for one semester. This attempt had led young Browning to the
decision that the “university” was not where poets could be properly
educated. He returned home to his father, who was out 100 pounds, and
lived there well into his thirties.
Yet
shortly after Browning received this honor, Pen Browning, the only
child of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, fails the entrance exam
to Oxford. Browning, who had wanted nothing but to encourage his son’s
advancement, becomes fed up entirely with the boy and loses all
contact. The boy becomes a less than successful playwright.
Ironic
how an honorary Doctorate-from the university Browning failed to
succeed at-can change one’s opinion of scholastic independence.
This
separation is actually what brings this paper full circle. You see it
was not until Pen-the consummate loiterer and failure-married Fannie
Coddingham, that the Browning men were once again able to see eye to
eye. She was quite the fan of Browning and he was equally fond of her.
This marriage-as it only brought folks together, not one body to
part-was indeed a blessed union. Fannie was able to bring father and
son together before it was too late. Upon Browning’s deathbed, “Robert
went over the final proofs of Asolondo, and read from it to Fannie, Pen and Sariana (R. B.’s sister)” (Jolly).
Just like Paraclesus-and many of his dramatic monologues-Robert Browning did not perish, he transcended.
