1607 Robert Browning and His World Two Robert Brownings? [1861-1889] by Maisie Ward (read 27 Dec 1980) I found this second volume of the biography a drag when the author talked about Browning's poetry and the ideas behind it, since I really don't understand or care much about much of his poetry. I have never read what is his major work, The Ring and the Book, and I probably never will, since being immersed in Browning for these recent days has not made me want to read it. I think one reason I feel good about biography is because I like the conclusions, the grandeur of the endings. Swinburne wrote these words of Browning after his death:

Who, seeing the sweet-colored waters roll,
Yet know the sun subdued not of the sea,
Nor weep nor doubt that still the spirit is whole,
And life and death but shadows of the soul. ( )