Article #656-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Life of Robert Browning, by William Sharp

Glad as the Brownings were to be home again at Casa Guidi,
they could not enjoy the midsummer heats of Florence,
and so went to the Baths of Lucca. It was a delight for them
to ramble among the chestnut-woods of the high Tuscan forests,
and to go among the grape-vines where the sunburnt vintagers were busy.
Once Browning paid a visit to that remote hill-stream and waterfall,
high up in a precipitous glen, where, more than three-score years earlier,
Shelley had been wont to amuse himself by sitting naked on a rock
in the sunlight, reading `Herodotus' while he cooled, and then plunging
into the deep pool beneath him -- to emerge, further up stream,
and then climb through the spray of the waterfall till he was like
a glittering human wraith in the middle of a dissolving rainbow.

Those Tuscan forests, that high crown of Lucca, must always
have special associations for lovers of poetry. Here Shelley lived,
rapt in his beautiful dreams, and translated the `Symposium'
so that his wife might share something of his delight in Plato.
Here, ten years later, Heine sneered, and laughed and wept,
and sneered again -- drank tea with "la belle Irlandaise",
flirted with Francesca "la ballerina", and wrote alternately
with a feathered quill from the breast of a nightingale and with a lancet
steeped in aquafortis: and here, a quarter of a century afterward,
Robert and Elizabeth Browning also laughed and wept and "joyed i' the sun,"
dreamed many dreams, and touched chords of beauty whose vibration has become
incorporated with the larger rhythm of all that is high and enduring
in our literature.

On returning to Florence (Browning with the MS. of the greater part
of his splendid fragmentary tragedy, "In a Balcony", composed mainly
while walking alone through the forest glades), Mrs. Browning found
that the chill breath of the tramontana' was affecting her lungs, so a move was made to Rome, for the passing of the winter (1853-4). In the spring their little boy, their beloved "Pen",* became ill with malaria. This delayed their return to Florence till well on in the summer. During this stay in Rome Mrs. Browning rapidly proceeded with "Aurora Leigh", and Browning wrote several of his "Men and Women", including the exquisite  Love among the Ruins', with its novel metrical music;
Fra Lippo Lippi', where the painter, already immortalised by Landor, has his third warrant of perpetuity; the Epistle of Karshish' (in part);
Memorabilia' (composed on the Campagna); Saul', a portion of which
had been written and published ten years previously,
that noble and lofty utterance, with its trumpet-like note
of the regnant spirit; the concluding part of "In a Balcony";
and Holy Cross Day' -- besides, probably, one or two others. In the late spring (April 27th) also, he wrote the short dactylic lyric,  Ben Karshook's Wisdom'. This little poem was given to a friend
for appearance in one of the then popular Keepsakes' -- literally given, for Browning never contributed to magazines. The very few exceptions to this rule were the result of a kindliness stronger than scruple: as when (1844), at request of Lord Houghton (then Mr. Monckton Milnes), he sent Tokay', the Flower's Name', and Sibrandus Schafnaburgensis',
to "help in making up some magazine numbers for poor Hood,
then at the point of death from hemorrhage of the lungs,
occasioned by the enlargement of the heart, which had been brought on
by the wearing excitement of ceaseless and excessive literary toil."
As `Ben Karshook's Wisdom', though it has been reprinted in several quarters,
will not be found in any volume of Browning's works, and was omitted from
"Men and Women" by accident, and from further collections by forgetfulness,
it may be fitly quoted here. Karshook, it may be added,
is the Hebraic word for a thistle.

Explanation

This excerpt from The Life of Robert Browning (1890) by William Sharp—a Scottish writer, biographer, and literary critic—offers a vivid, almost painterly account of the Brownings’ time in Italy, weaving together history, poetry, and personal anecdote. Sharp’s prose is rich with romantic idealism, literary homage, and biographical intimacy, capturing the intellectual and emotional landscape of the Brownings’ exile in Italy (1846–1861). Below is a detailed breakdown of the passage, focusing on its themes, literary devices, contextual significance, and the perspective it offers on the Brownings’ creative lives.

1. Context: The Brownings in Italy

The excerpt situates Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in Tuscany (1853), a period of artistic fruition and personal struggle. After their secret marriage in 1846 and Elizabeth’s disinheritance by her father, the couple fled to Italy, where they lived primarily in Florence (Casa Guidi) and later Rome. Italy became a sanctuary—physically (for Elizabeth’s fragile health) and creatively (for both poets). Sharp’s account highlights:

The Tuscan landscape as muse: The forests, vineyards, and waterfalls are not just settings but active participants in the poets’ imaginations.
Literary pilgrimage: The region is haunted by the ghosts of Shelley and Heine, whose presences linger in the landscape, framing the Brownings’ own creative legacy.
Health and mortality: Elizabeth’s tuberculosis ("the chill breath of the tramontana") and their son Pen’s malaria underscore the fragility of their idyll, a recurring theme in Sharp’s biography.

Sharp’s work is part of the late-Victorian cult of Browning, which sought to mythologize the poet’s life and marriage. His prose reflects the era’s aestheticism—a blend of decadent sensuality (e.g., Heine’s "feathered quill from the breast of a nightingale") and moral earnestness (the Brownings’ "high and enduring" contributions to literature).

2. Themes

A. The Sacredness of Place

The passage mythologizes Tuscany as a literary holy land, where the spirits of Shelley, Heine, and the Brownings intersect. Key elements:

Shelley’s waterfall: The description of Shelley reading Herodotus while "like a glittering human wraith in the middle of a dissolving rainbow" is sublime and mythic. Sharp borrows from Shelley’s own letters (where he describes bathing in the Bagni di Lucca) but heightens the imagery to apotheosize the poet as a Romantic demigod—a fusion of intellect (Herodotus), nature (the waterfall), and transcendence (the rainbow).
Heine’s cynicism vs. Browning’s joy: Heine, the German Romantic satirist, is portrayed as volatile ("sneered, and laughed and wept"), his writing tools symbolizing duality (the nightingale’s quill = beauty; the lancet = pain). The Brownings, by contrast, "joyed i’ the sun" and touched "chords of beauty," aligning them with harmony and endurance.
The Brownings’ legacy: Their work is framed as permanent, its "vibration" woven into the "larger rhythm" of literature. Sharp positions them as heirs to Shelley’s idealism but grounded in human experience (unlike Heine’s irony).

B. Creativity and Suffering

The excerpt ties artistic production to physical and emotional trials:

Elizabeth’s illness and Pen’s malaria delay but do not halt their writing. Sharp implies that suffering fuels creativity—a Romantic trope (e.g., Keats’ "posthumous life" in poetry).
Browning’s peripatetic composition: He writes "In a Balcony" while walking through forests, suggesting movement as inspiration (a contrast to Elizabeth’s bedridden productivity).
The fragmentary nature of Browning’s work (e.g., "In a Balcony" is "splendid [but] fragmentary") mirrors the transience of life—a theme in his poetry (e.g., "Love among the Ruins").

C. Literary Community and Generosity

Sharp emphasizes Browning’s reluctance to publish in magazines (a mark of artistic integrity) but notes exceptions driven by compassion (e.g., contributing to Hood’s Magazine to aid the dying Thomas Hood). This paints Browning as:

A purist (avoiding commercial venues).
A humanitarian (prioritizing friendship over principle). The anecdote about "Ben Karshook’s Wisdom" (a lost poem) underscores the precarity of literary legacy—even great works can be forgotten.

3. Literary Devices

Sharp’s prose is lyrical and allusive, employing:

A. Imagery and Sensory Language

Tactile/visual: "sunburnt vintagers," "spray of the waterfall," "glittering human wraith" — these create a vivid, almost cinematic Tuscany.
Synesthesia: Heine’s writing tools (quill from a nightingale’s breast, lancet in aquafortis) blend sound, texture, and pain, reflecting his dual nature (lyricism and bitterness).

B. Allusion and Intertextuality

Shelley’s waterfall: Echoes Shelley’s Alastor (1816), where the poet-protagonist seeks transcendence in nature. Sharp’s description revises Shelley’s myth, making him a playful, sunlit figure rather than a doomed Byronic hero.
Plato’s Symposium: Shelley’s translation for Mary Shelley symbolizes intellectual intimacy, contrasting with Heine’s isolated cynicism.
"Love among the Ruins": The title itself (from Browning’s 1855 poem) becomes a metaphor for the Brownings’ Italy—beauty persisting amid decay.

C. Juxtaposition

Shelley’s idealism vs. Heine’s irony vs. the Brownings’ balance of joy and sorrow.
Nature’s vitality (chestnut woods, grapevines) vs. human fragility (Elizabeth’s lungs, Pen’s malaria).
Browning’s generosity (helping Hood) vs. his artistic rigor (refusing magazines).

D. Symbolism

The waterfall: Rebirth (Shelley emerging "further up stream"), creativity, and the sublime.
The thistle (karshook): In Hebrew, it signifies resilience in adversity—fitting for Browning’s overlooked poem.
The tramontana (north wind): A harbinger of death, linking Elizabeth’s illness to the transience of life.

4. Significance of the Passage

A. Biographical Insight

Sharp’s account humanizes the Brownings, showing:

Their domestic joys (rambling in forests, laughing in the sun).
Their collaborative creativity (Elizabeth writing Aurora Leigh while Browning crafts Men and Women).
Their resilience amid illness and displacement.

B. Literary Canonization

Sharp elevates the Brownings to the pantheon of Romantic and Victorian poets by:

Linking them to Shelley (the quintessential Romantic genius).
Contrasting them with Heine (whose irony they transcend).
Framing their work as "enduring"—a counter to contemporary critics who found Browning’s poetry obscure or fragmented.

C. Historical Moment

The excerpt captures the Victorian fascination with Italy as a land of artistic liberation (cf. the Pre-Raphaelites, George Eliot’s Romola). For the Brownings, Italy was:

A refuge from Victorian moral constraints (Elizabeth’s father disapproved of their marriage).
A catalyst for modernist techniques (Browning’s dramatic monologues, Elizabeth’s epic Aurora Leigh).

D. The Poet as Pilgrim

Sharp’s Tuscany is a sacred landscape where poets communicate across time. The Brownings are literary pilgrims, walking in Shelley’s footsteps but carving their own path. This reflects the Victorian cult of genius, where artists are seers whose lives and works are intertwined.

5. Focus on the Text Itself: Close Reading

Let’s examine two key segments:

A. Shelley’s Waterfall Scene

"Shelley had been wont to amuse himself by sitting naked on a rock in the sunlight, reading `Herodotus' while he cooled, and then plunging into the deep pool beneath him -- to emerge, further up stream, and then climb through the spray of the waterfall till he was like a glittering human wraith in the middle of a dissolving rainbow."

Nudity and intellect: Shelley’s nakedness symbolizes Romantic purity—unmediated communion with nature and text (Herodotus = history, but also myth).
Movement: The sequence (sitting → plunging → emerging → climbing) mirrors poetic creation—immersion in the sublime, followed by rebirth.
"Glittering human wraith": A ghostly, luminous figure—suggesting Shelley’s posthumous fame (he drowned in 1822) and the ephemeral nature of genius.
"Dissolving rainbow": The rainbow (a Romantic symbol of transcendence) is fleeting, tying beauty to impermanence.

Sharp’s description revises Shelley’s own letters, where he calls the waterfall a "bath of the nymphs." By adding the rainbow and wraith, Sharp mythologizes Shelley, aligning him with Prospero or Apollo.

B. The Brownings’ Creative Output

"Browning wrote several of his 'Men and Women', including the exquisite Love among the Ruins', with its novel metrical music; Fra Lippo Lippi', where the painter... has his third warrant of perpetuity; the Epistle of Karshish' (in part); Memorabilia' (composed on the Campagna); `Saul', that noble and lofty utterance, with its trumpet-like note of the regnant spirit..."

"Exquisite... novel metrical music": Highlights Browning’s innovation (e.g., the dactylic meter of "Love among the Ruins"), a hallmark of his dramatic monologues.
"Third warrant of perpetuity": Fra Lippo Lippi was immortalized by Landor’s Imaginary Conversations (1824) and Browning’s poem (1855), and later by modernist critics (e.g., Ezra Pound). Sharp positions Browning as a preserver of legends.
"Trumpet-like note" (Saul): The biblical grandeur of Browning’s poetry, with its prophetic tone, is contrasted with the intimate lyricism of "Love among the Ruins."
Geographical composition: "Memorabilia" on the Campagna (Rome’s haunted plain) ties Browning’s work to classical and Christian history, reinforcing the palimpsestic nature of Italy.

6. Conclusion: Sharp’s Vision of the Brownings

Sharp’s excerpt is more than biography—it’s a literary elegy for a golden age of poetry. By intertwining landscape, legend, and personal struggle, he presents the Brownings as:

Heirs to Romanticism (Shelley’s idealism) but pioneers of modernism (psychological depth, fragmented forms).
Exiles who found home in Italy, transforming suffering into art.
Bridge figures between the sublime (Shelley) and the ironic (Heine), embodying Victorian tensions between faith and doubt.

The passage’s richest irony is that Sharp, writing in 1890, looks back nostalgically at the 1850s—a time when the Brownings themselves were looking back to Shelley. This layering of memory makes the text a meditation on literary immortality, where place, poetry, and personality merge into myth.

Key Takeaways

Tuscany as a Character: The landscape is active, shaping the poets’ lives and works.
Contrast as Structure: Shelley’s idealism, Heine’s cynicism, and the Brownings’ balanced humanity create a triptych of Romantic legacies.
Suffering and Art: Illness and displacement are catalytic, not obstructive.
Sharp’s Agenda: To canonize Browning as a modern Shelley—visionary but grounded in human complexity.
Lost and Found: The anecdote about "Ben Karshook’s Wisdom" reminds us that even great artists have blind spots—some works fade, while others endure.

This excerpt is a microcosm of Sharp’s biography—a love letter to Italy, to poetry, and to the idea that art outlasts life.