Stranded at the Border: Browning, France, And the Challenge of Cosmopolitanism in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country (Robert Browning) (Essay) (Victorian Poetry Studies) (Critical Essay‪)‬

Robert Browning's periods of residence and travel on the Continent coincided with some of the great political upheavals of the time, but the closest the poet may have ever come to being in any personal danger due to such unrest was in the late summer of 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. At the time, Browning and his sister Sarianna were enjoying a seaside holiday at St. Aubin-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast. His good friend Joseph Milsand lived in a cottage only "two steps off," Browning wrote to Isa Blagden, while they stayed in "another of the most primitive kind on the sea-shore--which shore is a good sandy stretch for miles and miles on either side." (1) During previous summers in Brittany, Browning had developed an enthusiasm for swimming which he now indulged almost daily, although he confessed that the "sadness of the war & its consequences go far to paralyse all our pleasure" (p. 342). If convinced that France was being justly punished for its misplaced faith in Napoleon III, Browning still felt a vague attachment to the struggling nation that compelled him to remain on the scene: "I am glad to be in France rather than elsewhere just now" (p. 344). His sympathy was also quickened, no doubt, by witnessing Milsand's difficult efforts to secure his home and belongings in Paris. But even as German armies began a steady advance toward the capital after capturing the emperor himself, Browning remained confident that they could make it back to the safety of England without difficulty: "We can reach Havre from Caen in a few hours--& thence get to Southampton when we please," he wrote to Blagden in mid September, "so I think we have decided to remain till the end of the month" (p. 345). Within a week of penning these reassuring words, however, Browning began a frantic departure from France. Milsand was concerned that the poet might have already been mistaken for a German spy by restless villagers. State authorities were also on the lookout for French nationals trying to leave the country, which had been forbidden by government order. As a result, the boat to Le Havre, along with most trains and coaches, was no longer in service. Only through Milsand's last-minute efforts were the Brownings able to secure passage out of the country, at midnight, on a cattle boat bound for Southampton. (2)