R640700A. Dramatis Personæ.

The British Quarterly Review, 1 July 1864, p. 264.

Listed in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 31, 343.

It would require some space to say all we think about this volume of poems. They evince an extraordinary subtlety of thought and of expression. The genius of the poet is everywhere in them; but it is the genius of a poet moulded by art rather than fired by nature. Such poetry may be greatly admired, but it can never be popular. The conditions necessary to a full appreciation of the skill and beauty to be traced in it are rare even among the educated. Where the meaning is a puzzle, pleasure is impeded, if not impossible. But Mr. Browning, like Mr. Tennyson, is not to be deterred by such considerations from following his bent.

Reviewed:

Dramatis Personæ (RB), London: Chapman & Hall, 1864.

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