I. GENERAL STATEMENT.--Of the two hundred and twenty-two of Browning’s poems, ten contain the name of an Italian poet or of his writings. Five imaginary writers--Aprile, Plara, Bocafoli, Eglamor, Stiatta--and eleven who belong to the history of Italian literature--Sordello, Nina, Alcamo, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Tasso, Sacchetti, Marino, Aretino, and Tommaseo--compose the list. Of the historical poets, Dante is given the most important place; for besides the direct tribute that is paid him, his name or the name of his great work occurs in seven poems out of the ten. Sordello, a most insignificant poet from the historical standpoint, receives more extended treatment than any other literary figure in Browning’s works. Of the entire list of poems, three deal with the life and aspirations of a poet as the main theme--_Pauline_, which, by the way, is really non-Italianate, _Paracelsus_, in which the poet Aprile is contrasted with the scholar, and _Sordello_. II. PREDOMINANCE IN EARLY POEMS.--Within the first eight years of Browning’s career, he published four long poems--_Pauline_, _Paracelsus_, _Strafford_, and _Sordello_. Three of them deal in some way with the life of a poet. After this first period, with the possible exception of _One Word More_, which is essentially a study in comparative art, there is no extended discussion of this sort in any poem, either Italianate or non-Italianate. _How it Strikes a Contemporary_ deals with the attitude of the general public toward the life and purposes of a poet, but not, as did the early group, with the poet’s solution of his own problem concerning his relation toward his work and humanity. It was written much later, when Browning was more fully settled in his poetical career. _Pauline_ is an autobiographical sketch of a poet’s early doubts and aspirations, largely devoted to appreciation of Shelley, and without Italianate quality; _Paracelsus_ and _Sordello_ deal with Italian writers of verse. Since these all belong in the same period and that the early one, it is clear that Browning was endeavoring to establish his own ideas of a poet, and these poems were the expression of that effort. But he chose to express his conclusions by giving the negative side, not the positive; for Aprile, Sordello, Eglamor, Plara, Bocafoli, and in a lesser degree Nina and Alcamo, are all failures. Not all of them absolute and hopeless, for Sordello dies with a moral victory won, Aprile is successful in part, and Nina and Alcamo have their strength and grace; but still none of these poets has fully attained.