In the same way Browning offends against this primal canon of art. A man who was capable of writing the most melodious verse, as is shown in some of his lyrics, he refused to put his thoughts in simple form, and often clothed them in obscurity. The result is that the great public which would have enjoyed his studies of character and his powerful dramatic faculty is repelled at the outset by the difficulties of understanding his poems. Browning added to this obscurity by constant reference to little-known authors. This was not pedantry, any more than Milton's use of classic mythology was pedantry. Both men possessed unusual knowledge of rare books, and both were much given to quoting authors who are unknown to the general reading public. But with all these difficulties in the way, there still remains a body of verse in Browning's work which will richly repay any reader. The lyrics and short poems like _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_, _Pippa Passes_, _Prospice_, _O Lyric Love_, _The Last Ride_, _One Word More_, _How They Brought the Good News_, _Herve Riel_, the epilogue to _Asolando_, _The Lost Leader_, _Men and Women_, and _A Soul's Tragedy_ will give any reader a taste of the real Browning. If you like these poems, then try the more ambitious poems like _A Blot in the 'Scutcheon_, _The Inn Album_, _Fifine at the Fair_ and others. Browning, above all other English poets, seems to have had the power of seizing upon a character at a crucial hour in life and laying bare all the impulses that impel one to high achievement or great self-sacrifice. He seems always to have worked at the highest emotional stress, so that his words are surcharged with feeling. In many of his poems this emotional element is painful in its intensity. Character to him was the main feature, and his selections comprise some of the most picturesque in all history. That he was able to make these people live and move and impress us as real flesh-and-blood human beings shows the great creative power of the man, who ought to have written some of the world's finest plays.