BROWNING, ROBERT (1812-1889).--Poet, only _s._ of Robert B., a man of fine intellect and equally fine character, who held a position in the Bank of England, was _b._ in Camberwell. His mother, to whom he was ardently attached, was the _dau._ of a German shipowner who had settled in Dundee, and was alike intellectually and morally worthy of his affection. The only other member of the family was a younger sister, also highly gifted, who was the sympathetic companion of his later years. In his childhood he was distinguished by his love of poetry and natural history. At 12 he had written a book of poetry which he destroyed when he could not find a publisher. After being at one or two private schools, and showing an insuperable dislike to school life, he was _ed._ by a tutor, and thereafter studied Greek at Univ. Coll., London. Through his mother he inherited some musical talent, and composed settings, for various songs. His first _pub._ was _Pauline_, which appeared anonymously in 1833, but attracted little attention. In 1834 he paid his first visit to Italy, in which so much of his future life was to be passed. The publication of _Paracelsus_ in 1835, though the poem had no general popularity, gained the notice of Carlyle, Wordsworth, and other men of letters, and gave him a reputation as a poet of distinguished promise. Two years later his drama of _Stratford_ was performed by his friend Macready and Helen Faucit, and in 1840 the most difficult and obscure of his works, _Sordello_, appeared; but, except with a select few, did little to increase his reputation. It was followed by _Bells and Pomegranates_ (containing _Pippa Passes_) (1841), _A Blot in the 'Scutcheon_ (drama) (1843), _Luria_ and _A Soul's Tragedy_ (1846). In this year he married Miss Elizabeth Barrett (_q.v._), the poetess, a union of ideal happiness. Thereafter his home until his wife's death in 1861 was in Italy, chiefly at Florence. In 1850 he wrote _Christmas Eve and Easter Day_, and in 1855 appeared _Men and Women_. After the death of Mrs. Browning he returned to England, paying, however, frequent visits to Italy. Settling in London he published successively _Dramatis Personæ_ (1864), _The Ring and the Book_ (1868-69), his greatest work, _Balaustion's Adventure_, and _Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau_ (1871), _Fifine at the Fair_ (1872), _Red Cotton Night-cap Country_ (1873), _The Inn Album_ (1875), _Pacchiarotto_ (1876), translation of _Agamemnon_ (1879), _La Saisiaz_, etc. (1878), _Dramatic Idylls_ (1879 and 1880), _Asolando_ (1889) appeared on the day of his death. To the great majority of readers, probably, B. is best known by some of his short poems, such as, to name a few, "Rabbi Ben Ezra," "How they brought the good News to Aix," "Evelyn Hope," "The Pied Piper of Hammelin," "A Grammarian's Funeral," "A Death in the Desert." It was long before England recognised that in B. she had received one of the greatest of her poets, and the causes of this lie on the surface.