Robert Browning Biography and Works.

Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812 in Camberwell, London. He was an English poet and playwright. His mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.

Browning was an extremely bright child and a voracious reader. He learned Greek, Latin, French and Italian by the time he was fourteen years old. He attended the University of London in 1828. In the 1830s, he tried to write verse drama for stage several times and realized that his talent lies in taking a single character.

He started writing poems during the same time. Some of his earlier works were Paracelsus (1835) and Sordello (1840).

He met the poet, Elizabeth Barrett in 1845. Although she was an invalid and very much under the control of a domineering father, they got married in 1846 and later eloped to Italy.

Barrett had been a more popular poet than Browning during their lifetimes. Some of his other works include Collected Poems (1862) and Dramatis Personae (1863). The Ring and the Book (1868-9), based on an ‘old yellow book’, which told of a Roman murder and trial, finally won him popularity.

The late 1860s were the peak of his career. Browning’s influence continued to grow and finally led to the founding of the Browning Society in 1881. He died in 1889, on the same day when his final volume of verse, Asolando, was published.

Trivia

Elizabeth Barrett’s love for Browning was demonstrated in the ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese, and to her, he dedicated ‘Men and Women’ that contains his best poetry.