_Not that I care for ceremonies――no; But still there are occasions, as you see (Observe the costumes――gallantly they show To my poor judgment!), which, ’twixt you and me, Not to come forth, one’s few remaining hairs Or wig――it matters little――bravely brushed And oiled, dress-coated, sprucely-clad, the tears And tweaks and wrenches people overflushed With――well, not wine――oh, no, we’ll rather say Anticipation, the delight of seeing―― No matter what!――inflict upon you (pray Remove your elbow, friend!), in spite of being Not quite the man one used to be, and not So young as once one was, would argue one Churlish, indifferent, hipped, rheumatic, what You please to say. So, not to spoil the fun――_ Comprenez-vous?――_observe that lady there, ‘In native Worth.’ Aha, you see the jest? Not bad, I think? My own too! Woman’s fair, Or not――the odds, so long as she is dressed? They’re coming! Soh! Ha, Bennett’s ‘Barcarole’―― A poor thing, but mine own! That minor third Is not so bad, now! Mum, sirs! (Bless my soul, I wonder what her veil cost?) Mum’s the word!_ The strange thing is that the rickety stuff above is a perfectly fair burlesque. The cadence――or lack of cadence――the horrid involutions, the breaks into bald dulness, are all Browning’s to the very essence.” ――――:o:―――― This is not the place in which to enter upon a dissertation on the style of Mr. Robert Browning. Profundity of thought is not necessarily accompanied by obscurity of language, and yet the admirers of Mr. Browning contend that it is precisely in those poems which are the most difficult to understand, that his chief excellencies are to be found. Hence several “Browning Societies” have been started for the express purpose of explaining this obscure writer to persons of only _average_ intelligence. Now a Homer society, or a Shakespeare society, one can understand, these poets are dead and cannot be appealed to, for the solution of doubtful readings, or confused passages. But Mr. Browning is alive and well, and should be able, if he were willing, to clear up the meaning of any obscurity in his own writings. Were he to do this, however, a few amiable hero-worshippers, and fussy founders of Societies, would lose their vocation, and perhaps the public would not greatly gain. ―――― Many anecdotes are told of Browning’s obscurity.