R640702B. Dramatis Personæ.

The Illustrated London News, 2 July 1864, p. 18.

Listed in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 31, 343.

The strange title signifies, we suppose, that Mr. Browning has devoted his talents to depicting in this volume of poems certain characters in the drama of life. The most poetical of his compositions is (with the exception, perhaps, of “Prospice”) that which he calls “The worst of it;” but which, in respect of the poetry, should be termed “the best of it.” As a whole, we mean; for there are portions in every poem in the volume where Mr. Browning’s fine gifts show themselves in the form either of subtle thought, or quaint conceit, or striking image, or happy turn, or vigorous expression. He is more than usually mystic; and the question continually occurs to one—especially whilst reading “Mr. Sludge, the Medium”—whether prose would not have been a more fitting “medium” whereby to convey the ideas. Some of the lines in “Gold Hair” (one of the best pieces in the volume) also suggest the same question.

Reviewed:

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

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