Lo，whatisthishemeets，strainsonwardstill?
Whatotherman，deepfurtherinthefate，Who，turningattheprizeofafoot-fallToflatterhimandpromisefellowship，Discoversintheactafrightfulface——
Judas，mademonstrousbymuchsolitude！
Thetwoareatonenow！LetthemlovetheirloveThatbitesandclawslikehate，orhatetheirhateThatmopsandmowsandmakesasitwerelove！
There，letthemeachteareachindevil’s-fun，Orfondlethistheotherwhilemaliceaches——
Bothteach，bothlearndetestability！
Kisshimthekiss，Iscariot！Paythatback，Thatsmatcho’theslaverblisteringonyourlip——
Bythebettertrick，theinsulthesparedChrist——
Lurehimthelureo’theletters，Aretine！
Lickhimo’erslimy-smoothwithjelly-filthO’theverse-and-prosepollutioninlove’sguise！
Thecockatriceiswiththebasilisk！
Therelethimgrapple，denizenso’thedark，Foesorfriends，butindissolublybound，IntheironespotoutofthekenofGodOrcareofmanforeverandevermore！”
Browninghasdistinctlyindicatedthestandardbywhichheestimatesart-work，intheclosingparagraphofhisEssay`OnthePoetobjectiveandsubjective；onthelatter’saim；
onShelleyasmanandpoet’。”Iwouldrather，”hesays，”considerShelley’spoetryasasublimefragmentaryessaytowardsapresentmentofthecorrespondencyoftheuniversetoDeity，ofthenaturaltothespiritual，andoftheactualtotheideal，thanIwouldisolateandseparatelyappraisetheworthofmanydetachableportionswhichmightbeacknowledgedASUTTERLYPERFECTINALOWER
MORALPOINTOFVIEW，UNDERTHEMERECONDITIONSOFART。
ItwouldbeeasytotakemystandonsuccessfulinstancesofobjectivityinShelley：thereistheunrivalled`Cenci’；thereisthe`JulianandMaddalo’too；thereisthemagnificent`OdetoNaples’：
whynotregard，itmaybesaid，thelessorganizedmatterastheradiantelementalfoamandsolution，outofwhichwouldhavebeenevolved，eventually，creationsasperfectevenasthose?
ButIprefertolookforthehighestattainment，notsimplythehigh，——and，seeingit，Iholdbyit。Thereissurelyenoughofthework`Shelley’tobeknownenduringlyamongmen，and，Ibelieve，tobeacceptedofGod，ashumanworkmay；andAROUNDTHEIMPERFECT
PROPORTIONSOFSUCH，THEMOSTELABORATEDPRODUCTIONSOFORDINARYART
MUSTARRANGETHEMSELVESASINFERIORILLUSTRATIONS。”
Theitalicsaremine。Iwouldsay，butwithoutadmittingimperfectartonthepartofBrowning，forIregardhimasoneofthegreatestofliteraryartists，thatHEmustbeestimatedbythestandardpresentedinthispassage，bythe”presentment”，everywhereinhispoetry，”ofthecorrespondencyoftheuniversetoDeity，ofthenaturaltothespiritual，andoftheactualtotheideal。”
Thesamestandardispresentedin`AndreadelSarto’，in`OldPicturesinFlorence’，andinotherofhispoems。
V。ArgumentsofthePoems。
*Ithasnotbeenthoughtnecessary，intheseArguments，tousequotationmarkswhereverexpressionsfromthepoemsareincorporated；andespeciallywheretheyareadaptedinconstructiontotheplacewheretheyareintroduced。
Wantingis——What?”Love，thesoulofsoul，withinthesoul”，theChrist-spirit，thespiritofthe”Comer”(o`e’rxo/menos，Matt。11：3)，completesincompletion，reanimatesthatwhichwithoutitisdead，andadmitstoafellowshipwiththesoulofthings；`Ubicaritas，ibiclaritas’。Seepassagefrom`FifineattheFair’，quotedunder`MyStar’。
MyStar。
Thefollowingpassagefrom`FifineattheFair’，section55，isanexpansionoftheideainvolvedin`MyStar’，andisthebestcommentarywhichcanbegivenonit：——”IsearchbutcannotseeWhatpurposeservesthesoulthatstrives，orworldittriesConclusionswith，unlessthefruitofvictoriesStay，oneandall，storedupandguaranteeditsownForever，bysomemodewherebyshallbemadeknownThegainofeverylife。Deathreadsthetitleclear——
Whateachsoulforitselfconqueredfromoutthingshere：
Since，INTHESEEINGSOUL，ALLWORTHLIES，IASSERT，——
ANDNOUGHTI’THEWORLD，WHICH，SAVEFORSOULTHATSEES，INERT
WAS，IS，ANDWOULDBEEVER，——STUFFFORTRANSMUTING——NULL
ANDVOIDUNTILMAN’SBREATHEVOKETHEBEAUTIFUL——
BUT，TOUCHEDARIGHT，PROMPTYIELDSEACHPARTICLE，ITSTONGUE
OFELEMENTALFLAME，——nomatterwhenceflamesprungFromgumsandspice，orelsefromstrawandrottenness，Solongassoulhaspowertomakethemburn，expressWhatlightsandwarmshenceforth，leavesonlyashbehind，Howe’erthechance：ifsoulbeprivilegedtofindFoodsosoonthat，atfirstsnatchofeye，suckofbreath，Itshallabsorbpurelife：”etc。
TheFlightoftheDuchess。
In`TheFlightoftheDuchess’wearepresentedwithageneroussoul-life，asexhibitedbythesweet，gladDuchess，linkedwithfossilconventionalismandmediaevalsim，andaninheritedauthoritywhichbrooksnosubmissiveness，asexhibitedbytheDuke，herhusband，”outofwhoseveinsceremonyandpridehavedriventheblood，leavinghimbutafumigatedandembalmedself”。Thesceneofthepoemisa”roughnorthland”，subjecttoaKaiserofGermany。Thestoryissoplainlytoldthatnoprosesummaryofitcouldmakeitplainer。Itsdeepermeaningcentresintheincantationoftheoldgypsywoman，inwhichismysticallyshadowedforththelongandpainfuldisciplinethroughwhichthesoulmustpassbeforebeingfullyadmittedtothedivinearcanum，”howloveistheonlygoodintheworld”。
Thepoemisonewhichreadilylendsitselftoanallegoricalinterpretation。Forsuchaninterpretation，thereaderisreferredtoMrs。Owen’spaper，readbeforetheBrowningSocietyofLondon，andcontainedintheSociety’sPapers，PartIV。，pp。49*etseq。
Itistoolongtobegivenhere。
TheLastRideTogether。”Thespeakerisamanwhohastogiveupthewomanheloves；
buthisloveisprobablyreciprocated，howeverinadequately，forhisappealfor`alastridetogether’isgranted。
Thepoemreflectshischangingmoodsandthoughtsas`hereweareriding，sheandI’。`FailIaloneinwordsanddeeds?
Why，allmenstrive，andwhosucceeds?’Careers，evencareerscalled`successful’，passinreview——statesmen，poets，sculptors，musicians——eachfailsinhisideal，foridealsarenotattainableinthislifeofincompletions。Butfaithgainssomethingforaman。
Hehaslovedthiswoman。Thatissomethinggained。Ifthislifegaveall，whatweretheretolookforwardto?`Now，heavenandshearebeyondthisride。’Again，——andthisishisclosingreflection，——”`Whatifheavenbe，that，fairandstrong’”，etc——
BrowningSoc。Papers，V。，144*。
BytheFireside。
PerhapsinnootherofMr。Browning’spoemsarethespiritualusesof”theloveofweddedsouls”morefullysetforththaninthepoem，`BytheFireside’。
TheMonologueisaddressedbyahappyhusbandtohis”perfectwife，myLeonor”。Helooksforwardtowhathewilldowhenthelong，darkautumneveningscome——theeveningsofdecliningage，whenthepleasanthueofhissoulshallhavedimmed，andthemusicofallitsspringandsummervoicesshallbedumbinlife’sNovember。
Inhis”wakingdreams”hewill”liveo’eragain”thehappylifehehasspentwithhislovedandlovingcompanion。Passingoutwherethebackwardvistaends，hewillsurvey，withher，thepleasantwoodthroughwhichtheyhavejourneyedtogether。
Tothehazel-treesofEngland，wheretheirchildhoodpassed，succeedsararersort，till，bygreendegrees，theyatlastslopetoItaly，andyouth，——Italy，thewoman-country，lovedbyearth’smale-lands。Shebeingthetrustedguide，theystandatlastintheheartofthings，theheapedanddimwoodsallaroundthem，thesingleandslimthreadofwaterslippingfromslabtoslab，theruinedchapelperchedhalf-wayupintheAlpinegorge，reachedbytheone-archedbridgewherethewaterisstoppedinastagnantpond，wherealldaylongabirdsings，andastraysheepdrinksattimes。Here，whereatafternoon，oralmosteve，thesilencegrowsconscioustothatdegree，onehalffeelsitmustgetridofwhatitknows，theywalkedsidebyside，arminarm，andcheektocheek；
crosssilentthecrumblingbridge，pityandpraisethesweetchapel，readthedeadbuilder’sdate，’five，six，nine，recrossthebridge，takethepathagain——butwait！Ohmomentoneandinfinite！thewestistender，withitsonestar，thechrysolite！thesightsandsounds，thelightsandshades，makeupaspell；amomentafter，andunseenhandsarehangingthenightaroundthemfast，buttheyknowthatabarhasbeenbrokenbetweenlifeandlife，thattheyaremixedatlastinspiteofthemortalscreen。”Theforestshaddoneit；theretheystood；
Wecaughtforamomentthepowersatplay：
Theyhadmingledusso，foronceandforgood，Theirworkwasdone——wemightgoorstay，Theyrelapsedtotheirancientmood。”
Browningeverywherelaysgreatstressonthosemomentsofexaltedfeeling，whenthesoulhasanuncheckedplayandisrevealedtoitself。SeeinthesectionoftheIntroductiononPersonalityandArt，thepassagequotedfromtheCanon’sMonologuein`TheRingandtheBook’，andtheremarksonconversion。
Mr。Nettleship，inhis`EssaysonBrowning’sPoetry’，hastracedsomewhatminutelythesymbolicalmeaningwhichheseesinthesceneryandcircumstancesof`BytheFireside’。
ReadersarereferredtotheseEssays。
Prospice。
Thespeakerinthisnoblemonologueisonewho，havingfoughtagoodfightandfinishedhiscourse，livedandwroughtthoroughlyinsense，andsoul，andintellect，isnowreadyandeagertoencounterthe`Arch-Fear’，Death；andthenhewillclaspagainhisBeloved，thesoulofhissoul，whohasgonebefore。HeleavestheresttoGod。
Withthismonologueshouldbereadthemysticaldescription，in`ThePassingofArthur’(Tennyson’sIdyllsoftheKing)，of”thelast，dim，weirdbattleofthewest”，beginning，——”Adeathwhitemistsleptoversandandsea。”
Amphibian。
ThispoemisthePrologueto`FifineattheFair’。
Amphibianisonewhounitesbothliveswithinhimself，thematerialandthespiritual，incompleteconcordandmutualsubservience——
onewho”livesandlikeslife’sway”，andcanalsofreehimselfoftether，leavethesolidland，and，unabletofly，swim”inthespherewhichoverbrimswithpassionandthought”，——
thesphereofpoetry。SuchanonemaybesaidtobeBrowning’sidealman。”Thevalueandsignificanceofflesh”iseverywhererecognizedinhispoetry。”Allgoodthingsareours，”RabbiBenEzraismadetosay，”norsoulhelpsfleshmore，now，thanfleshhelpssoul。”
Thefullphysicallife，initsrelationtothespiritual，wasnevermorebeautifullysungthanitissungbyDavid，inthepoemof`Saul’。Seethepassagebeginning，”Oh！ourmanhood’sprimevigor！”andthepassagein`Balaustion’sAdventure’，descriptiveofHercules，ashereturns，afterhisconflictwithDeath，leadingbackAlkestis。
JamesLee’sWife。
Theoriginaltitlein`DramatisPersonae’(firstpublishedin1864)
was`JamesLee’。
Thepoemconsistsofasuccessionofsoliloquies(ratherthanmonologues*)，separated，itmustbesupposed，bylongerorshorterintervalsoftime，andexpressiveofsubjectivestatesinducedinawifewhosehusband’slove，ifiteverwerelove，indeed，graduallydeclinestoapathyandfinallyentiredeadness。WhatmannerofmanJamesLeewas，isonlyfaintlyintimated。Theinterestcentresin，iswhollyconfinedto，theexperiencesofthewife’sheart，underthecircumstances，whatevertheywere——
*Forthedistinctionbetweenthesoliloquyandthemonologue，seethepassagegiveninanote，fromRev。Prof。Johnson’spaperon`BishopBlougram’sApology’，underthetreatmentofthemonologue，p。85{partIIIofIntro。}。
