Robert Browning was born in Camberwell, England, to Robert and Sarah Anna Browning. At the time of his birth, 1812, his father worked as a clerk for the Bank of England, having declined his own father's offer as the manager of a West Indies sugar plantation on the grounds of his extreme hatred for the system of slavery that was there employed. As a result, the poet's father was left to his own resources, and the family that the poet was born into lived a comfortable, but modest financial life. Aside from his necessary work at the bank, a living that Robert, the poet, referred to as "consum[ing] his life in a fashion he always detested," Robert's father was a scholarly man, fluent in several languages, including the Greek that was an integral part of his son's career. Robert Senior was also highly interested in painting and reading odd histories. Sarah Anna, the poet's mother, was a religious woman who occupied herself with her gardens, the piano, and took a particular interest in wild life of both the plant and animal variety. Robert's family was a very close-knit group, his mother would often play the piano late into the evening; at her son's insistence. His father taught him at home for some time, and tried to introduce him to formal education in the neighborhood elementary school. Robert was so far advanced in his studies that the school sent him home to avoid embarrassing the other students. His first verse was composed early on. Later, Robert admits of this first writing in a letter to his future wife, Elizabeth Barrett: "the first composition I was guilty of was something in imitation of Ossian . . . this, however, I thought exceedingly well of, and laid up for posterity under the cushion of a great armchair. . . . I could not have been five years old, that's one consolation." In 1820 Robert was admitted to Misses Ready's boarding school in Pecham. He returned home only on weekends, though the school was barely more than one mile distant. By twelve he was reading Homer in Greek and spending many hours exploring the natural world surrounding his home. By fourteen his first collection of poems, Incondita, was written. His supportive and enthusiastic parents attempted to find a publisher for the poems, but to no avail. The poems were primarily written for Eliza Flower, the daughter of Benjamin Flower, one of the family's close friends. It has also been suggested that Eliza was the inspiration for his first published work, Pauline, four years later. Only two of the pieces from Incondita survived Browning's fitfully destructive means of ultimate revision, as they were sent by Eliza to a Mr. W. J. Fox. Fox saw promise in the young poems and saved them. Later Fox would serve as an influential force in the publication and reception of Browning's Pauline. Also during this time the fourteen year old Robert discovered the work of Shelley (later, in Pauline, referred to by Browning as the "Sun Treader") and Voltaire. He enthusiastically took up the philosophies of these men, much to his mother's dismay, declaring himself an atheist, and a devout vegetarian. In 1828 Robert's father sent him to attend London University. The stay was brief, as Browning decided that this was not the education necessary to a poet. His father was out 100 pounds, but Browning was allowed to make the decision entirely according to his own heart. In the meantime he took up theatre-going with his cousin James Silverthorn, and attended a plethora of lectures on various subjects, including medical lectures at Guy's Hospital. Browning had been considering writing a book that would reflect his idea of this new approach to ‘real life' (as he considered the world beyond academics) and after three year's work he published Pauline, anonymously, in 1833. The book clearly shows his strong attachment to Shelley, as well as his desire to speak from his experience and inner emotions. At the same time, the anonymous publication is evidence of Browning's insecurity with that mode of confessional writing. The poem received predominantly poor reviews with a few words of encouragement. It sold not a single copy. One particular review probably effected more change in his writing style than any other, and that piece was by John Stuart Mill. It was never published (as the intended journal had published a short, and rather insulting quip concerning Pauline before Mill could send in his criticism) but instead fell into the hands of the poet through W. J. Fox. Mill had guessed much about the author from the poems, fully aware that the anonymous poet was a young man, extremely destructive towards himself, with a critical nature that extended, according to Mill, beyond "any sane human being." From here on Browning would write dramatic pieces, largely from other points of view, keeping a safe distance from personal narration. It is also possible that Browning's alteration of style came from his philosophical transitions over the next few years. Humbled by the reactions to Pauline, and also due to a shift in his influences (he started reading a lot less Shelley and a lot more Byron) Browning turned from Shelley's belief in the poet as prophet. He began to see that he was not spiritually in tune to the world's music; at best he saw himself as a commentator. Both influences--Morris's letter--and Browning's philosophical transition--probably worked together in molding Browning's future dramatic style. In 1834, accompanied by one of his Uncle Reuben's acquaintances, the diplomat Chevalier George de Bankhausen, Robert made a two-month trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. While in Russia he wrote three poems. Upon his return he decided to become a diplomat. This decision was probably spurred on by his meeting Count Amedee de Ripert-Monclar, a French agent assigned to London. Luckily, the counts influence on Robert's career would not be a lasting one; however, the count would affect Browning's writing tremendously by suggesting the topic of Browning's next book, Paracelsus. The book was published in 1835. It is the first of Browning's dramatic pieces, and the first poem that Browning would admit to having written. Reviewers were generally pleased with Paracelsus, although many of them noted a great debt to Shelley, stylistically. Browning the diplomat was no more. In his place, Browning the poet was welcomed finally into the literary world of London. During the hubbub of social involvement following the publication of Paracelsus, Browning attended a New Year's dinner party hosted by the actor William Macready. John Forster, Walter Savage Landor, and William Wordsworth (to name a few) were in attendance. During the dinner Macready toasted a great many people, and when he came to Browning, Wordsworth leaned across the table and whispered, "I am proud to drink to your health, Mr. Browning." At this same party, his host asked him, "Will you not write me a tragedy, and save me from going to America?" One year later, in response to this remark, Browning published "Strafford," the first of a series of plays. The play was produced that same year by Macready after months of heated deliberation between himself and Browning. The production strained Browning's relationships with Macready, as well as Forster, who had acted as a diplomatic center for these two opposing forces. During the publication of Paracelsus, and throughout the publication and production of "Strafford," Browning was working on his next book, Sordello. Writing the book turned into a laborious task for Browning and, in an attempt to attach himself more readily to the subject, he traveled to Italy. Here he worked very little on the book, though we can guess that his academic, almost historian-like interest in the scenes of that nation added to the intensely dense poem that would reach the world in 1840. The public was baffled by the work, the critics despised it, and Browning's reputation suffered. Already, "Strafford" had received a poor public response, and Sordello soon became a joke among the London literary circles. Following Sordello, and in great despair, Browning undertook a series of pamphlet- published pieces entitled "Bells and Pomegranates." The inexpensive publication was not an intentionally humble effect. His recent inability to write a successful work had degraded his social standing in London circles. Instead he was forced into the realm of the publicly and socially obscure, a place in which he would reside for over twenty years. Although this series is written during Browning's lowest time in terms of public fame, he certainly was doing some of his best work. After Sordello, the poet realized that he needed to open his work from the intellectually dense into the publicly comprehensible. The first of the series, "Pippa Passes," is certainly another transition for Browning, as Paracelsus had been, some years earlier. The transition is carried further in Browning's Dramatic Lyrics of 1842 (a collection which included his widely read "My Last Duchess"), and by 1845, with Dramatic Romances, Browning had entered into the next stage of his writing. His new dramatic poetry was marked by strongly developed and nicely contained monologues. Unfortunately, the public repulsion at Sordello kept him from the critics' eyes for many years to come. While his poetic success was on the rise again, his success in the theatre was far from going anywhere. "A Blot in the 'Scutcheon" was published and produced, another of the "Bells and Pomegranates" series, with hardly any critical notice. What little response was given to the play suggested that the work was far too poetic for the theatre, criticizing Browning's characters as being too heavily rooted in the monologue. Feeling the melancholy of dwindling success and uninterested critical reception Browning left for Italy. He hoped to recapture from his first trip the creative energy and excitement he had experienced. Upon returning he went straight to work on Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, and finalized "Colombe's Birthday" for publication. This is the first of his plays that he would write only for the page, as "‘Scutcheon" had almost entirely severed his relations with Macready, and also probably because he realized that his genius would not be recognized in the form of produced drama. Dramatic Romances and Lyrics went to press in 1845, with mixed reviews. Also in this year Browning noticed his name in Elizabeth Barretts book, Poems. The passage reads "Or from Browning some pomegranate which, if cut deep down the middle, Shows a heart of blood-tinctured of a veined humanity." Obviously the lines were tremendous praise, and Browning immediately wrote to her. The correspondence of the next eight months is documented in countless collections, as it is a very interesting and exciting romance. Barrett's father was unwilling to allow any of his children to marry. Robert, hopelessly in love, constantly pushed the envelope of pronouncing as often as possible his hopes for the future. Elizabeth would have liked to stifle these hopes for the sake of avoiding her father's rage, had she not also fallen deeply in love. She was working on Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of love poems for Robert, during the entire courtship. After eight months of courtship Robert and Elizabeth decided to marry. The opportunity arose when Elizabeth's father, suspicious of Robert's attention towards Elizabeth, decided the family should move to the country for a month. Browning thought this would be a good transitional time to spirit Elizabeth from her overbearing father. Three days before the move Browning and Elizabeth took a day trip to church, stopping off at a druggists for sal volatile to calm Elizabeth's nerves. They were married with two witnesses and then returned Elizabeth to the house as if nothing had happened. Elizabeth waited the following days out, the marriage still secret, until the day of the move. The couple disappeared to Pisa, Italy. Elizabeth's father was outraged and vowed never to speak with her again. --For more on Elizabeth and the romance, see the section of this site, Regarding Elizabeth.-- Conveniently, Browning finished his series, "Bells and Pomegranates," with the plays "Luria," and "A Soul's Tragedy," before their elopement. Both plays were, like "Colombe's Birthday," written only to be read. They finalized Browning's divergence in the theatre. While these theatre days were not fruitful in terms of his financial situation or his literary reputation, it is clear to see that his development of dramatic language and form was crucial to his greatest works. It would be hard to imagine Browning flushing out a character like Fra Lippi Lippo or Andrea del Sarto without first having developed a firm grasp on the dynamics of the dramatic monologue. After the move to Pisa, the couple decided to take a tour of northern Italy. However, upon their arrival in Florence they immediately fell in love with the city and settled. Robert experienced a dwindling in his previously prolific existence. He wrote only one poem in the next two years, spending a good deal of time walking the city and buying decorative objects--furniture, pictures, and the like--for their apartment. These two years, 1847 and 1848, were also plagued by two miscarriages, and a slowly deteriorating financial situation. Robert and Elizabeth were living primarily from the 350 pounds a year that Elizabeth collected from family inheritance. In 1849 the Brownings were overjoyed to receive into the world Robert "Pen" Weideman Barrett Browning. It was a bittersweet time for Robert, the poet, as just a few days afterwards he received a series of letters from his sister. The first two explained that his mother was near death, the third, that she had passed. The letters, all three, were actually written after his mother's death. Robert's sister, knowing her brother's extremely close relationship with his mother, and also the potential depth of Robert's suffering, had hoped to ease the news. After a long period of depression, in which Robert wrote nothing at all, he began Christmas Eve and Easter Day in 1849. The poems, when published in 1850, revealed a meditation on death. Robert used the subject of organized religion, a region of spirituality that Robert had never before considered between any pages. Appropriately enough, the speaker of the poem realizes his personal truths are not absolute. In a sense he is dealing with the doubts that had arisen as a result of the past year's experiences. 1850 brought Elizabeth's third miscarriage, an event that left her bedridden for six weeks. The couple moved north, to Sienna, at the doctor's suggestion that they might find cooler country air more amenable to Elizabeth's recovery. During this time, her health getting immediately better, and then falling off again upon their return to Florence, Elizabeth became even more dependant on the morphine that had served her in the past as a painkiller. While the drug was certainly affective in alleviating pain, it was terrible for her health, and Robert, at her insistence, was often out alone in Florence society. Also during this time an old friend of the Browning's, John Kenyon, offered to provide an extra 100 pounds a year to supplement the family while Pen was growing up. The couple was certainly happy in their Florence life, but they longed for the friends and family they had left behind in London. Though Robert dreaded returning to a home where his mother would not be able to share in his life, and Elizabeth was concerned about her family affairs, the couple decided to make the trip in 1851. The trip yielded no progress in the relationship between Elizabeth and her father. She sent letters that were never opened. However, this was the first time that Robert's sister and father were able to meet Elizabeth and Pen. They also spent a great deal of time with John Forster, whom they hadn't seen for five years. Later in 1851 the Brownings moved from London to Paris. Elizabeth was coughing profusely while in England, owing greatly to the pollution in the city at that time. In Paris the couple met Joseph Misland, an actor and poet who would remain one of Browning's closest friends for the reminder of his lifetime. Also, while in Paris, Browning was commissioned by his publisher to write an introduction to Shelley's letters. This gave Browning the opportunity to address the Sun Treader for the first time since Pauline. The work is regarded as Browning's finest critical piece, and has established its own reputation, outside of the letters, as the "Essay on Shelley." The couple remained in Paris until 1853. After their return to Florence the couple set to work. The time between 1853 and 1855 is quite probably the couple's greatest years of collaboration. They spent their weekdays in a systematic way, working in the morning, providing Pen with his lessons through the afternoon, and critiquing each other's work in the evenings. Browning wrote over 8000 lines of verse in these three years, the culmination of which is seen in his book Men and Women in 1855. Men and Women is the pinnacle of Robert's dramatic style. The book includes his poems "Andrea del Sarto," "Fra Lippo Lippi," and "Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha." Unfortunately Robert still lived under the shadow of accusations of obscurity. The reviewers thought the book was poorly pieced together, the poems not united in any way, and the language too far removed from what was considered poetic. The work that Browning had hoped would change his public image had only worsened the situation. One year later, Elizabeth's Aurora Leigh was published. The critics loved the work. It went through publication after publication. Elizabeth was overjoyed at the reception, and Robert was happy also, perhaps with some vicarious enjoyment of fame. Aurora Leigh certainly lightened the Browning's waning financial difficulties, but after John Kenyon's death and bequest of 11,000 punds, the couple never needed to worry over money again. By 1859 Elizabeth was sick more often than she was well. The Brownings decided that a move to Rome would be a good opportunity for Elizabeth to find rest and warmer weather. Elizabeth's regular dosage of morphine had continually increased, and the drug was probably a serious contributor to the defenselessness of her immune system. After the winter of 1860-61 the Brownings to move up to France, but Elizabeth's health stopped them in Florence. She grew continually worse over the next few months, making a concerted effort to care for Pen and maintain some life outside of her sickroom, but always regressing to her ill state. In June, after a long night of wakefulness, during which time she told Robert that he was making "an exaggerated case of it," she whispered to him, "our lives are held by God." A few minutes later she died. Some time later Robert made the conscious decision that he could not be bound to a woman that was no longer alive. If his life was going to continue he must make a clean break of his history and start afresh. He had written nothing in the past two years, concentrating all of his efforts on Elizabeth, and now he faced the need to become intrinsically attached to his work. Part of breaking from the past meant leaving Florence forever. He and Pen moved to London after her death where Browning rekindled the closeness he had enjoyed with his family before his elopement. Within a year he had undergone a complete transformation. Where the earlier Browning was somewhat self-contained and quiet in society, he now burst forth onto the scene, practicing the fine art of dining out on every occasion possible. He also managed, in 1862, to guide Elizabeth's posthumous collection of poems through the press. In 1862 Robert collected a number of Elizabeth's essays for publication. The essays were released that same year, bearing the title The Greek Christian Poets and the English Poets. After Elizabeth's work was finished Robert turned to his own. In 1962 he released a Collected Poems as well as a Selected Poems, both of which were received by the critical world with much joy and praise. Browning was gaining critical respect. A year later, in 1864, he released Dramatis Personae, a collection Robert referred to as "a new Men and Women." European reviewers loved the work, and the poems were reaching an international audience. Robert received even more praise in America than he did in Europe. In 1866 Robert received a telegram from his sister that his father was dying. Robert dashed to his father's side and stayed on two days until his father died. The night before his death, he shook hands with Robert's old friend, Milsand, told his daughter that he looked forward to seeing her in heaven, if not sooner, and wanted to be certain that he was not tiring out his son. Robert's reputation as a poet grew alongside his reputation as a man of the world. He was accepting invitations to some of the most elite social groups of the world. But amidst the excitement of public recognition, a thing he had been striving towards for and kept from for over twenty years, he was still extremely attentive to his son. Pen would prove to be more of a challenge to Browning than he was expecting. Pen was not the scholar that Robert had been, and it caused no small amount of tension in the Browning household. In 1867 Robert arranged for Pen to visit Oxford, to study a bit of undergraduate life before matriculation. But in 1868 Pen returned home bearing the news that officials considered his preparatory education lacking. He had failed the entrance exam. Soon before his son was sent away from Oxford, the University awarded Robert an Oxford Masters of Arts degree by diploma (an honor bestowed only once before in Oxford's history) as well as an honorary fellowship. This only exaggerated Robert's disappointment in Pen's failure, as he had hoped that his son might attend the University at which he was now a fellow. Robert's fame and public recognition reached a climax in 1868, with the publication of The Ring and the Book. He had begun turning the idea over in his mind in 1860, at which time he had happened, while walking the streets of Florence, upon a book containing accounts and court transcripts of a murder case in Rome. He referred to this book later as his ‘Old Yellow Book. He began work on the poem after Elizabeth's death. After six years the published work was celebrated throughout literary circles worldwide. Browning's joy at this adulatory response is evident in a letter he had sent to a Miss Julia Wedgewood: "the British Public like, and more than like me, this week, they let their admiration ray out on me, and at sundry congregations of men wherein I have figured these three or four days, I have seen, felt and, thru' white gloves, handled an affectionateness not unmingled with awe." There are two distinct and greatly different explanations of Robert's involvement with one Lady Louisa Ashburton at this point in his life. It seems that the relationship between these two figures, both raising children and widowed, had progressed to a point of discussing the matter of marriage. One account suggests that the Lady proposed the idea and Robert declined graciously, agreeing with a line from a letter of hers in which she thinks the marriage would not be positive for her child. The other account suggests that Robert proposed to the woman, for the sake of Pen's upbringing, and was declined by the lady. Regardless of which story is true, it was certainly a point in time that Robert regretted for the rest of his days, believing he had somehow done an injustice to the memory of Elizabeth. Although Browning's social life was definitely a large part of his days, he still found ample time to write and publish two books in 1871: Balaustion's Adventure: Including a Transcript from Euripides and Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society. Typically he reserved evenings for dining out and for attending the social functions important to the world, so mornings were dedicated entirely to his writing. Balaustion's was a book largely dedicated to his wife. For its subject, it took Alcestis, a piece by Elizabeth's favorite Greek playwright Euripides. Prince Hohenstiel was a continuation of a poem Browning had begun in 1860. The public reaction to these works was barely comparable to their excitement over his The Ring and the Book, but Browning's fame had rendered him untouchable by critics. In the years 1872 through 1876 the public saw five books of poems from Browning: Fifine at the Fair, Red Cotton Night-Cap Country or Turf and Towers, Aristophenes' Apology: Including a Transcript from Euripides, Being the last of Balaustion, The Inn Album, and Pacchiarotto and How He Worked in Distemper. All of the pieces were generally bashed by critics (as much as a critic could bash Browning and still maintain his credibility), and yet Browning's fame during these years flourished. Aristophenes' Apology was published largely as a response to a current trend amidst popular philosophers, including Nietzsche and Schlegel, of blaming Euripides for the ruination of classical Greek tragedy. Obviously with his personal interest in the playwright, as well as his wife's devotion to Euripides' work, Browning could not pass up the opportunity to add to the public dialogue. Pacchiarotto was written in response to contemporary literary critics. The piece focused its attacks on one critic in particular, though Browning was obviously directing the attack on all of critic's- dome. The book was, understandably, poorly received by much of the literary world. The lack of supporters for this book, at least according to modern critics, was not uncalled for. The humor rested solely on defaming the critic, and the artistic elements work largely towards that end as well. The subject didn't possess enough depth for Browning to display his poetic powers. In 1977 Browning published The Agamemnon of Aeschylus Transcribed by Robert Browning. The book is certainly more a literal transcription than a translation, and Browning's motivation for writing the piece may have had something to do with the critical reception of Balaustion. Several people had suggested that Browning owed the translation of that piece to a contemporary, and had very little to do with the actual wording. The title of this piece alone is suggestive of his ownership of the language. In 1878, with age weighing heavily on his mind, Robert and his sister, Sarianna, set off on a tour of Italy. Preceding the trip, Pen had left the art studio, where he had been sent as a last ditch effort to involve him in something outside of what Browning described as "that occupation to which Providence apparently hath pleased to call him--that is, in shooting, idling and diverting himself." He refused to return to art and Browning and son remained on nonspeaking terms for some time. Robert was hoping to find in Italy the nation of his past. The recent reviews of his books accused him of over-intellectualizing his subjects. The last visit to Italy had been when he was working through Sordello, another book that suffered from emotional detachment and intellectual over-indulgence. The trip revived in him all that he had hoped for. He immediately set to work on Dramatic Idyls which was then published in 1879 to the tune of critical praise and public adulation. As a result of such an exciting response, Robert immediately began work on a follow-up to the book, which he called Dramatic Idyls, Second Series. The book, when published the following year, was not as highly regarded as the first, but certainly reflected a public interest in the pieces. In the same year that the Second Series was published, Browning also experienced the creation of The Browning Society of London. This was the first of many Browning societies that would spring up, both in Europe and America, over the next few years. Browning was both honored and embarrassed by this recognition of success. He knew that the critical press would certainly jump at the opportunity to poke fun on the subject, but at the same time he realized the complimentary significance of such an act. Robert Browning was one of very few poets to enjoy unmitigated fame within his lifetime and for these years he really enjoyed it, going to balls and 'dining out' while Browning societies continued to flourish. But all was not perfect for the poet. In 1881 Thomas Carlyle passed away. Carlyle had been one of the first people to recognize the promise of Paracelsus, and had long been an admirer and positive critic of Browning. In 1886 Joseph Misland also died. He had been Browning's closest friend since their meeting in Paris in 1851. His work continued, a constant through all things, with the publications of Jocoseria in 1883, and Ferishta's Fancies in 1884. Of Jocoseria Browning comments, it is a book of "things gravish and gayish." Ferishta was well-liked, though one reviewer commented on the complexity of subject with the quip "out with your nutcrackers, you Browning Societies." Surrounded by the losses of close friends and relatives, Browning was undoubtedly in a reflective frame of mind for these last three years of his life. In 1887, with the publication of Parleyings with Certain People of Importance in Their Day, Browning had captured, in one contained poem of epic proportions, both an autobiography and reminiscence. The book existed outside of time and, more properly, within the realm of the spiritual. Around the same time that Parleyings was published, Robert's son, Pen, married one Miss Fannie Coddingham. Fannie regarded the poet with great esteem and Browning was reciprocally pleased with her. Pen and Browning were once again on good terms with one another. Between 1887 and 1889 Browning spent most of his time reworking the pieces for his final Collected Poems. This latest collection included, for the first time, Browning's anonymous publication, Pauline. In 1888 Robert and his sister visited Venice for three months. Robert was involved with his manuscript the entire time. He also followed closely Pen and Fannie's purchase of the Palazzo Rezzonico, an estate that the couple were hoping to restore. They returned to London for eight months during which time Robert indulged in his previous social pleasures. He soon grew agitated, so he and his sister, in July of 1889, set off for Italy. The first stop was Asolo, a town Browning had fallen in love with on his tour of Italy as a boy. Before leaving Asolo for Venice, Robert placed his completed Collected Works in the mail to his publisher. Asolondo: Fancies and Facts, Robert's last book, was begun immediately upon arrival in Venice. Like Parleyings, Asolondo is reminiscent in nature. Browning considers the town of Asolo in its various stages of existence throughout his years. Browning and Sarianna had planned on returning to London in November of 1889, but Robert fell ill with a cold, and the trip was cancelled. While in bed, Robert went over the final proofs of Asolondo, and read from it to Fannie, Pen, and Sariana. On December 12 news from the publisher relayed that the book had been released and the reviews were extremely good. That same day, surrounded by his dearest friends and family, Robert Browning passed away. Robert Browning was buried in the Poet's Corner of Wesminster Abbey.

This biography was written under consideration of the texts in the Bibliography