(1842), " Dramatic Romances and Lyrics " (184*) and
"Men and Women" (1855). "The Ring and the
Book," his longest poem (1868-1869), i? perhaps his
masterpiece. The main event of an otherwise uneventful
life was his elopement in 1846, with Elizabeth Barrett,
the poetess, to whom he was ^ devotedly attached until
her death, which took place in Florence. Most of his
later themes are drawn from Italian sources. Browning's
poetry excels in fertility of ideas, in grasp of psychological
subtleties, in power of delineating queer abnormal char-
acters, and in dramatic quality, but suffers from ob-
scurity and irregularity of syntax, and lack of poetic—
though never of mental—quality.
P. 53, 1. 10. The Hague: Cape de la Hogue, in Normandy.
1. 14. St. Malo : a seaport in Brittany.
Ranee : the river that flows into the Bay of St. Malo.
P. 54, 1. 3. Starboard} port: the sides of a ship, right and
left respectively.
P- 55> !• 4- Breton : of Brittany, in N.W. France.
1. 5. Croisickese : a native of Le Groisic at the mouth of
the Loire, where this poem was written.
1. 7. Malouins : natives of St. Malo.
1. 10. Offing : the part of the sea nearer the horizon than
the coast.
Greve: the beach to the N.W. of St. Malo is called La
Grande Greve.
Disembogues : enters the sea.
1. 14. Solidor : the Tower and Port of Solidor are at
St. Servan, on the Ranee, a short distance south of
St. Malo.
P. 57, 1. i. Rampired: fortified.
P. 58, 1. i o. Bore the bell: won the first place, was
victorious.
1. 13. Louvre : a great palace in Paris, now used partly
as a museum.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
This poem was written for, and inscribed to, a little son
of the actor, William Macready.
P. 58, 1. 19. Brunswick : a state in the west of Germany.
P- 59> 1- 23. Obese : fat.
P. 61, 1. 15. Tartary : now Turkestan, in Asia.
Cham (from Kam) : sovereign, ruler.
L 17. Nizam : the ruler of an Indian state.
Lai. Guilder: a former Dutch (or German) coin,
value about is. 8d.
192