The Poetry of Robert Browning

In this book, Stopford A. Brooke offers an informative and incisive commentary on the life's work of distinguished romantic era poet Robert Browning.

Brooke was a poet and scholar of 19th century literature, and possessed a unique, in-depth knowledge of the greatest literary figures and poets of the period. This book contains Brooke's comparisons and reflections upon the styles and forms of verse which Browning introduced in his work. The chapters are informed by the intensive studies and experience of the author, who himself wrote poetry for the Irish church.

The chapters of this book divide Browning's works into different categories, in turn comparing them against some of the other famous poets of the era, in particular Tennyson and Sordello. Brooke's incisive explanations are supported by frequent quoting of the poet's most poignant verses, offering clear conclusions about their meaning and overall gravity. At times Brooke is critical, noting passages by Browning which he felt were lacking in eloquence or subtlety.

A superb book for students of literature or poetry, as well as general readers who appreciate English verse, Stopford A. Brooke's far ranging investigation spans the entirety of Browning's career. His analyses of Browning's treatment of love and other human passions, and the notable presence of women in the poems, together with the imaginative expressions of corporeal things, ranks this study among the finest to have ever been published on the subject.