principleswhichitbehovesthepresentgenerationofeducatorstolookwellto。Theacquisitionofknowledgeisagoodthing，thesharpeningoftheintellectisagoodthing，thecultivationofphilosophyisagoodthing；butthereissomethingofinfinitelymoreimportancethanallthese——itis，therectification，theadjustment，throughthatmysteriousoperationwecallsympathy，oftheunconsciouspersonality，thehiddensoul，whichco-operateswiththeactivepowers，withtheconsciousintellect，and，asthisunconsciouspersonalityisrectifiedorunrectified，determinestheactivepowers，theconsciousintellect，forrighteousnessorunrighteousness。
TheattentivereaderofBrowning’spoetrymustsoondiscoverhowremarkablyhomogeneousitisinspirit。Therearemanyauthors，andgreatauthorstoo，thereadingofwhosecollectedworksgivestheimpressionoftheirhaving”triedtheirhand”atmanythings。
NosuchimpressionisderivablefromthevoluminouspoetryofBrowning。
Wideasisitsrange，onegreatandhomogeneousspiritpervadesandanimatesitall，fromtheearliesttothelatest。
NootherlivingpoetgivessodecidedanassuranceofhavingaBURDENtodeliver。Anappropriategeneraltitletohisworkswouldbe，`TheBurdenofRobertBrowningtothe19thCentury’。
HisearliestpoemsshowdistinctlyhisATTITUDEtowardthings。
Weseeinwhatdirectionthepoethassethisface——
whathisphilosophyoflifeis，whatsoul-lifemeanswithhim，whatregenerationmeans，whatedificationmeansinitsdeepestsenseofbuildingupwithinusthespiritualtemple。Andifhehadleftthisworldafterwritingnomorethanthosepoemsofhisyouth，`Pauline’and`Paracelsus’，averyfair`ex-pede-Herculem’estimatemighthavebeenmadeofthepossibilitieswhichhehassincesograndlyrealized。
III。Mr。Browning’s”Obscurity”。
ItwaslongtheFASHION——andthatfashionhasnotyetpassedaway——withskimmingreadersandperfunctorycriticstochargeMr。Browningwithbeing”wilfullyobscure，unconscientiouslycareless，andperverselyharsh。”
Therearereadersandreaders。Oneclass，constituting，perhaps，notmorethanone-tenthofonepercent，orathousandthpartofthewholenumber，”read，mark，learn，andinwardlydigest”；
theremainingninety-nineandnine-tenthspercent，throughahabitoflooseandindiscriminatereading，areunequaltothesustainedconcentrationofminddemandedbythehigherpoetry，thelanguageofwhichischaracterizedbyasevereeconomyofexpression——aclosenessoftexture，resultingfromtheellipticalenergyofhighlyimpassionedthought。
Readingis，perhaps，moresuperficialatthepresentdaythaniteverwasbefore。Thereisanalmostirresistibletemptationtoreversethe”multumlegendumessenonmulta”ofQuintilian，overwhelmedaswearewithbooks，magazines，andnewspapers，whichnomancannumber，andofwhichthousandsandtensofthousandsofmindsendeavortogobbleupalltheycan；andyet，fromwantofalldigestiveandassimilatingpower，theyarepitiablyfamishedanddeadened。
SirJohnLubbockhaslatelybeeninterestedinthepreparationofalistofthebesthundredbooks，andtothatendhassolicitedtheaidofanumberofprominentscholars。Prof。EdwardDowdenremarksthereupon，inanarticleon`TheInterpretationofLiterature’，”Itwouldhavebeenmoreprofitableforushadwebeenadvisedhowtoreadanyoneofthehundred；forwhat，indeed，doesitmatterwhetherwereadthebestbooksortheworst，ifwelackthepowerortheinstinctortheskillbywhichtoreachtheheartofanyofthem?
Booksformostreadersare，asMontaignesays，`alanguidpleasure’；
andsotheymustbe，unlesstheybecomelivingpowers，withasummonsorachallengeforourspirit，unlessweembracethemorwrestlewiththem。”
ToreturnfromthisdigressiontothechargeagainstBrowningofobscurity。And，first，itshouldbesaidthatBrowninghassomuchmaterial，suchalargethoughtandpassioncapital，thatweneverfindhimmakingalittlegoagreatway，bymeansofEXPRESSION，orratherconcealingthelittlebymeansofrhetoricaltinsel。WecanneverjustlydemandofhimwhattheQueenin`Hamlet’demandsofPolonius，”morematterwithlessart”。
Histhoughtiswide-reachinganddiscursive，andthemotionsofhismindrapidandleaping。Theconnectinglinksofhisthoughthaveoftentobesuppliedbyananalyticreaderwhosemindisnotuptotherequiredtensiontospringoverthechasm。
Heshowsgreatfaithinhisreaderand”leavesthemererudeexplicitdetails”，asifhethought，”’tisbutbrother’sspeechWeneed，speechwhereanaccent’schangegiveseachTheother’ssoul。”*
Sordello’。
AtrulyoriginalwriterlikeBrowning，original，Imean，inhisspiritualattitudes，isalwaysmoreoflessdifficulttotheuninitiated，forthereasonthathedemandsofhisreadernewstandpoints，newhabitsofthoughtandfeeling；says，virtually，tohisreader，Metanoei^te；anduntilthesenewstandpointsaretaken，thesenewhabitsofthoughtandfeelinginduced，thedifficulty，whileappearingtothereaderattheoutset，tobealtogetherobjective，willreallybe，toagreatextent，subjective，thatis，willbeinhimself。
Goethe，inhis`WahrheitundDichtung’，says：——”WereinemAutorDunkelheitvorwerfenwill，sollteerstseineigenesInnerebesuchen，obesdenndaauchrechthellist。InderDaemmerungwirdeinesehrdeutlicheSchriftunlesbar。”*——
*Hewhowouldchargeanauthorwithobscurity，shouldfirstlookintohisownmind，toknowwhetheritisquiteclearthere。
Intheduskaverydistincthandwritingbecomesillegible——
AndGeorgeHenryLewes，inhis`LifeofGoethe’，wellsays：——”Amasterpieceexcitesnosuddenenthusiasm；itmustbestudiedmuchandlong，beforeitisfullycomprehended；wemustgrowuptoit，foritwillnotdescendtous。Itsemphasisgrowswithfamiliarity。
Weneverbecomedisenchanted；wegrowmoreandmoreawe-struckatitsinfinitewealth。Wediscovernotrick，forthereisnonetodiscover。Homer，Shakespeare，Raphael，Beethoven，Mozart，neverstormthejudgment；butoncefairlyinpossession，theyretainitwithunceasinginfluence。”
AndProfessorDowden，inthearticlefromwhichIhavejustquoted，says：——”Approachingagreatwriterinthisspiritofcourageousandaffectionatefraternity，weneedallourforcesandallourcraftforthefriendlyencounter。Ifweloveeaseandlethargy，letusturningoodtimeandfly。Theinterpretationofliterature，liketheinterpretationofNature，isnomererecordoffacts；
itisnocatalogueoftheitemswhichmakeupabook——
suchcataloguesandanalysesofcontentsencumberourhistoriesofliteraturewithsomeoftheirdreariestpages。Theinterpretationofliteratureexhibitsnoseriesofdeaditems，butratherthelifeandpowerofonemindatplayuponanotherminddulyqualifiedtoreceiveandmanifestthese。Hence，onewhowouldinterprettheworkofamastermustsummonupallhispowers，andmustbealiveatasmanypointsaspossible。Hewhoapproacheshisauthorasawhole，bearinguponlifeasawhole，ishimselfaliveatthegreatestpossiblenumberofpoints，willbethebestandtruestinterpreter。Forhewillgraspwhatiscentral，andatthesametimewillbesensitivetothevalueofalldetails，whichdetailshewillperceivenotisolated，butinconnectionwithoneanother，andwiththecentrallifetowhichtheybelongandfromwhichtheyproceed。”
Inhispoementitled`Pacchiarotto，andhowheworkedindistemper’，Mr。Browningturnsuponhiscritics，whomhecharacterizesas”theprivilegedfellows，inthedrabs，blues，andyellows”
(alludingtothecoversoftheleadingBritishReviews)，andespeciallyuponAlfredAustin，theauthorofthatworkofwholesalecondemnation，`ThePoetryofthePeriod’，andgivesthemasoundandwell-deserveddrubbing。Atthecloseoftheonsethesays：——”Wasit`grammar’whereinyouwould`coach’me——
You，——pacingineventhatpaddockOflanguageallottedyouadhoc，Withaclogatyourfetlocks，——you——scornersOfmefreefromallitsfourcorners?
Wasit`clearnessofwordswhichconveythought?’
Ay，ifwordsneverneededenswatheaughtButignorance，impudence，envyAndmalice——whatword-swathewouldthenvieWithyoursforaclearnesscrystalline?
ButhadyoutoputinonesmalllineSomethoughtbigandbouncing——asnoddleOfgoose，borntocackleandwaddleAndbiteatman’sheelasgoose-wontis，Neverfeltplagueitspunyosfrontis——
You’dknow，asyouhissed，spatandsputtered，Clear`quack-quack’iseasilyuttered！”
InaletterwrittentoMr。W。G。Kingsland，in1868，Mr。Browningsays：——”IcanhavelittledoubtthatmywritinghasbeeninthemaintoohardformanyIshouldhavebeenpleasedtocommunicatewith；
butIneverdesignedlytriedtopuzzlepeople，assomeofmycriticshavesupposed。Ontheotherhand，Ineverpretendedtooffersuchliteratureasshouldbeasubstituteforacigaroragameatdominoestoanidleman。So，perhaps，onthewholeIgetmydeserts，andsomethingover——notacrowd，butafewIvaluemore。”*——
*`BrowningSocietyPapers’，III。，p。344——
ItwasnevertruerofanyauthorthanitistrueofBrowning，that`Lestylec’estl’homme’；andBrowning’sstyleisanexpressionofthepanther-restlessnessandpanther-springofhisimpassionedintellect。ThemusingspiritofaWordsworthoraTennysonhepartakesnotof。
Mr。RichardHoltHutton’scharacterizationofthepoet’sstyle，asa”crowdednote-bookstyle”，isnotaparticularlyhappyone。
Inthepassage，whichhecitesfromSordello，toillustratethe”crowdednote-bookstyle”，occursthefollowingparenthesis：——”(Tobebyhimthemselvesmadeact，NotwatchSordelloactingeachofthem。)””Whattheparenthesismeans，”hesays，”Ihavenotthemostdistantnotion。Mr。Browningmightaswellhavesaid，`tobebyhimherhimselfherselfthemselvesmadeact’，etc。，foranyvestigeofmeaningIattachtothiscuriousmobofpronounsandverbs。Itisexactlyliketheshortnotesofaspeechintendedtobeinterpretedafterwardsbyonewhohadheardandunderstoodithimself。”*
*`EssaysTheologicalandLiterary’。Vol。II。，2ded。，rev。andenl。，p。175。
Atfirstglance，thisparenthesisisobscure；buttheobscurityisnotduetoitsbeing”exactlyliketheshortnotesofaspeech”，etc。Itisduetowhatthe”obscurity”ofMr。Browning’slanguage，aslanguage，is，inninecasesoutoften，due，namely，totheCOLLOCATIONofthewords，nottoanexcessiveeconomyofwords。HeoftenexercisesalibertyinthecollocationofhiswordswhichisbeyondwhatanuninflectedlanguageliketheEnglishadmitsof，withoutmoreorlessobscurity。TherearedifficultpassagesinBrowningwhich，iftranslatedintoLatin，wouldpresentnodifficultyatall；forinLatin，therelationsofwordsaremoreindependentoftheircollocation，beingindicatedbytheirinflections。
Themeaningoftheparenthesisis，and，independentlyofthecontext，asecondglancetakesitin(thewonderis，Mr。Huttondidn’ttakeitin)，——”Tobethemselvesmadebyhim[to]act，NoteachofthemwatchSordelloacting。”
Therearetwoorthreecharacteristicsofthepoet’sdictionwhichmaybenoticedhere：——
1。Thesuppressionoftherelative，bothnominativeandaccusativeordative，isnotuncommon；and，untilthereaderbecomesfamiliarwithit，itoftengives，especiallyifthesuppressionisthatofasubjectrelative，amomentary，butonlyamomentary，checktotheunderstandingofapassage。
Thefollowingexamplesarefrom`TheRingandtheBook’：——”Checkingthesongofpraiseinme，hadelseSwelledtothefullforGod’swilldoneonearth。”
I。TheRingandtheBook，v。591。
i。e。，whichhad(wouldhave)elseswelledtothefull，etc。”ThisthatImixedwithtruth，motionsofmineThatquickened，madetheinertnessmalleolableO’thegoldwasnotmine，”——
I。TheRingandtheBook，v。703。”HarbouringinthecentreofitssenseAhiddengermoffailure，shybutsure，ShouldneutralizethathonestyandleaveThatfeelfortruthatfault，asthewayistoo。”
I。TheRingandtheBook，v。851。”ElaboratedisplayofpipeandwheelFramedtounchoak，pumpupandpourapaceTruthinafloweryfoamshallwashtheworld。”
I。TheRingandtheBook，v。1113。”seeinsuchAstarshallclimbapaceandculminate，”
III。TheOtherHalfRome，v。846。”Guido，byhisfolly，forcedfromthemTheuntowardavowalofthetricko’thebirth，Wouldotherwisebesafeandsecretnow。”
IV。TertiumQuid，v。1599。”soI
