Lay，andletcometheproperthroewouldthrillIntotheecstasyandoutthrobpain。”
VI。GiuseppeCaponsacchi，v。972。”blind?
Ay，asamanwouldbeinsidethesun，DeliriouswiththeplentitudeoflightShouldinterfusehimtothefinger-ends”——
X。ThePope，1564。”Youhavethesunrisenow，joinstruthtotruth。”
X。ThePope，1763。”Onemakesfoolslookfoolisherfifty-foldByputtingintheirplacethewiselikeyou，TotakethefullforceofanargumentWouldbuffettheirstolidityinvain。”
XI。Guido，858。
Heretheinfinitive”Totake”mightbeunderstood，atfirstlook，asthesubjectof”Wouldbuffet”；butitdependson”putting”，etc。，andthesubjectrelative”that”issuppressed：”anargument[that]
wouldbuffettheirstolidityinvain。””Willyouheartruthcandonoharmnorgood?”
XI。Guido，1915。”Iwho，withoutletforescapetoheaven，WouldtarryifsuchflightallowedmyfoeToraisehishead，relievedofthatfirmfootHadpinnedhimtothefierypavementelse！”
XI。Guido，2099。
i。e。，”thatfirmfoot[that]had(wouldhave)pinned。”……”ponder，ereyepass，EachincidentofthisstrangehumanplayPrivilyactedonatheatre，WasdeemedsecurefromeverygazebutGod’s，”——
XII。TheBookandtheRing，v。546。”Asyebecomespectatorsofthisscene——
*****——
AsoulmadeweakbyitspatheticwantOfjustthefirstapprenticeshiptosin，WouldthenceforthmakethesinningsoulsecureFromallfoessaveitself，that’struliestfoe，”——
XII。TheBookandtheRing，v。559。
i。e。，”sin，[that]would。””Washeproud，——atruescionofthestockWhichboretheblazon，shallmakebrightmypage”——
XII。TheBookandtheRing，v。821。
2。Theuseoftheinfinitivewithouttheprepositive”to”，isfrequentlyextendedbeyondpresentusage，especiallyin`Sordello’
and`TheRingandtheBook’。Thefollowingareexamples：——”Whofails，throughdeedshowe’erdiverse，RE-TRACK
Mypurposestill，mytask?”
Sordello，p。168。”failedAdelaideSEEthenWhowasthenaturalchief，themanofmen?”
Sordello，p。175。”butwhen’Twastimeexpostulate，attemptwithdrawTaurellofromhischild，”……
Sordello，p。180。
Herearetwoinfinitives，withtheprepositiveomitted，”expostulate”and”attempt”，bothdependentonthenoun”time”，andanother，”withdraw”，withouttheprepositive，dependenton”attempt”：”butwhen’twastime[to]expostulate，[to]attempt[to]withdraw”，etc。”Forthusheventured，totheverge，Pushavainmummery。”……
Sordello，p。190。
i。e。，forthusheventured[to]pushtothevergeavainmummery。”asyetHehadinconsciouslycontrivedFORGET
I’thewhole，todwello’thepoints”……
Sordello，p。190。”Grownbestial，dreaminghowBECOMEdivine。”
Sordello，p。191。”AndthewholemusicitwasframedAFFORD，”——
Sordello，p。203。”Wassuchalighting-upoffaith，inlife，Onlyallowedinitiate，setman’sstepInthetruewaybyhelpofthegreatglow?”
R。andB。X。ThePope，v。1815。
i。e。onlyallowed[to]initiate，[to]setman’sstep，etc。”IfImightreadinsteadofprintmyspeech，——
Ay，andenlivenspeechwithmanyaflowerRefusesobstinatelyblowinprint。”
R。andB。IX。Johannes-BaptistaBottinius，v。4。
Herethesubjectrelativeof”refuses”isomitted，andtheverbfollowedbyaninfinitivewithouttheprepositive：”manyaflower[that]refusesobstinately[to]blowinprint。”
3。Insteadofthemodernanalyticform，thesimpleformofthepastsubjunctivederivedfromtheAnglo-Saxoninflectionalform，andidenticalwiththatofthepastindicative，isfrequentlyemployed，thecontextonlyshowingthatitisthesubjunctive。(SeeAbbott’s`ShakespearianGrammar’，361etseq。)”WouldwesomeprizemightholdTomatchthosemanifoldPossessionsofthebrute，——gainmost，aswedidbest！”
RabbiBenEzra，St。xi。
i。e。，asweshoulddobest。”ThuswereabolishedSpringandAutumnboth，”
I。TheRingandtheBook，1358。
i。e。，wouldbeabolished。”HispeevishnesshadpromptlyputasideSuchhonorandrefusedtheprofferedboon，”……
II。HalfRome(R。andB。)，369。
i。e。，wouldhavepromptlyputaside。”(Whatdailypittancepleasedtheplundererdole。)”
X。ThePope(R。andB。)，561。
i。e。，asthecontextshows，[it]mightpleasetheplunderer[to]dole。”successiontotheinheritanceWhichboldercrimehadlostyou：”
IV。TertiumQuid(R。andB。)，1104。
i。e。，wouldhavelostyou。
Buttheverbs”be”and”have”arechieflysoused，andnotoftenbeyondwhatpresentusageallows。*——
*Tennysonuses”saw”=`viderem’，inthefollowingpassage：——”ButsinceIdidnotseetheHolyThing，IswareavowtofollowittillIsaw。”
SirPercivalein`TheHolyGrail’——
4。Theuseofthedative，orindirectobject，without”to”or”for”。
Suchdativesareveryfrequent，andscarcelyneedillustration。
Thepoethassimplycarriedtheuseofthembeyondthepresentgeneralusageofthelanguage。Butthere’sanoticeableoneinthePope’sMonologue，in`TheRingandtheBook’，vv。1464-1466：
TheArchbishopofArezzo，towhompoorPompiliahasapplied，inherdistress，forprotectionagainstherbrutalhusband，thinksitpoliticnottotakeherpart，butsendherbacktohimandenjoinobedienceandsubmission。ThePope，inhisMonologue，representsthecraftyArchbishopassaying，whenPompiliacries，”Protectmefromthewolf！””No，thyGuidoisrough，heady，strong，Dangeroustodisquiet：lethimbide！
Heneedssomebonetomumble，helpamuseThedarknessofhisdenwith：so，thefawnWhichlimpsupbleedingtomyfootandlies，——Cometomedaughter！——thusIthrowhimback！”
i。e。，thusIthrowback[to]himthefawnwhichlimpsupbleedingtomyfootandlies。Theparenthesis，”Cometome，daughter”，beinginterposed，andwhichisintroducedaspreparatorytohispurpose，addstothedifficultyoftheconstruction。
Thereare，afterall，butcomparativelyfewinstancesinBrowning’spoetry，wherethesefeaturesofhisdictioncanbefairlycondemned。Theyoftenimpartacrispnesstotheexpressionsinwhichtheyoccur。
Thecontrivingspiritofthepoet’slanguageoftenresultsingreatcomplexityofconstruction。Complexityofconstructionmaybeafault，anditmaynot。Itmaybejustifiedbythecomplexityofthethoughtwhichitbearsalong。”Clearquack-quackiseasilyuttered。”Butwhereanauthor’sthoughtisnimble，far-reaching，ellipticalthroughitsenergy，anddiscursive，theexpressionofitmustbemoreorlesscomplexorinvolved；
hewillemploysubordinateclauses，andparentheses，throughwhichtoexpresstheoutstanding，restricting，andtoningrelationsofhisthought，thatis，ifheisamasterofperspective，andrankshisgroupedthoughtsaccordingtotheirrelativeimportance。
Thepoet’sapostrophetohiswifeinthespirit-world，whichclosesthelongprologueto`TheRingandtheBook’(vv。1391-1416)，andinwhichheinvokesheraidandbenediction，intheworkhehasundertaken，presentsagreatercomplexityofconstructionthanistobemetwithanywhereelseinhisworks；andofthispassageitmaybesaid，asitmaybesaidofanyotherhavingacomplexconstruction，supposingthistobetheonlydifficulty，thatit’shardratherthanobscure，anddemandsclosereading。But，notwithstandingitscomplexstructureandthefreightofthoughtconveyed，thepassagehasaremarkableLIGHTSOMENESSofmovement，andisafinespecimenofblankverse。Theunobtrusive，butdistinctlyfelt，alliterationwhichrunsthroughit，contributessomethingtowardthislightsomeness。ThefirsttwoverseshaveaTennysonianring：——”OlyricLove，half-angelandhalf-birdAndallawonderandawilddesire，——
Boldestofheartsthateverbravedthesun，Tooksanctuarywithintheholierblue，5Andsangakindredsoulouttohisface，——
Yethumanatthered-ripeoftheheart——
WhenthefirstsummonsfromthedarklingearthReachedtheeamidthychambers，blanchedtheirblue，Andbaredthemoftheglory——todropdown，10Totoilforman，tosufferortodie，——
Thisisthesamevoice：canthysoulknowchange?
Hailthen，andhearkenfromtherealmsofhelp！
NevermayIcommencemysong，mydueToGodwhobesttaughtsongbygiftofthee，15Exceptwithbentheadandbeseechinghand——
Thatstill，despitethedistanceandthedark，Whatwas，againmaybe；someinterchangeOfgrace，somesplendouroncethyverythought，Somebenedictionancientlythysmile：
20——Neverconclude，butraisinghandandheadThitherwhereeyes，thatcannotreach，yetyearnForallhope，allsustainment，allreward，Theirutmostupandon，——soblessingbackInthosethyrealmsofhelp，thatheaventhyhome，25Somewhitenesswhich，Ijudge，thyfacemakesproud，Somewannesswhere，Ithink，thyfootmayfall！”*
*Inthelastthreeversesof`TheRingandtheBook’
thepoetagainaddresseshis”LyricLove”toexpressthewishthattheRing，whichhehasroundedoutoftheroughoreoftheRomanmurdercase，mightbutlie”inguardianship”outsidehers，”Thyraregoldringofverse(thepoetpraised)
LinkingourEnglandtohisItaly。”
ThereferenceistotheinscriptiononCasaGuidi，ViaMaggiore，9。Florence：
QUISCRISSEEMORI
ELISABETTABARRETTBROWNING
CHEINCUOREDIDONNACONCILIAVA
SCIENZADIDOTTOESPIRITODIPOETA
EFECEDELSUOVERSOAUREOANELLO
FRAITALIAEINGHILTERRA
PONEQUESTOMEMORIA
FIRENZEGRATA
1861。
