voice, eloquent with passion. In one of her lyrics she uttered her conclusion upon the human mystery, "knowledge by suffering entereth, and life is perfected by death." The spirituality of her "Vision of Poets" is a noticeable quality, and it is in a loftier strain than that of "The Two Voices," though cast in the same mould. Wandering amongst the minor poems of Mrs Browning, such for instance as "The Romaunt of Margret," "Isobel's Child," "Bertha in the Lane," and "the Swan's Nest among the Reeds," is like standing in the forest alone, with the wailing wind and the flying rain as the only assurances of an existence sublimer than our own. Yet she has thereby reached the profoundest depths of the human heart. But even when most depressed she does not lose faith—confidence in the triumph of the good and the right. To her it was not always necessary to understand the wrong which she beheld; she saw it and bated it, and she has helped men by her writings to do something towards making an end of it. "The Cry of the Children" is a striking illustration of her keen feeling and eloquent power as a philanthropist. She felt for all who are in any way crushed or bruised by the pressure of society, and of social distinctions, or of social misfortunes. Her poetry bears the impress of tender and profound sympathy with human suffering in every form.
The range of this author's powers was wide, as may be gathered by a comparison between such poems as "A Child's Thought of God" and "Casa Guidi Windows." In the latter she attained her ripest growth and greatest intellectual strength. The poem is as sustained as anything which she ever wrote, and more perfect than the remaining lengthy poems. The "Casa Guidi Windows" had the advantage of a direct and powerful inspiration. From her windows at Florence Mrs Browning looked out upon the Italian people struggling for freedom, and her enthusiasm was enkindled. Her utterances were therefore in accordance with the fulness of her heart, lavish and unrestrained. The extraordinary wealth and strength of imagery which the poem contains must have been noticed by every reader, and it includes doubtless much of her finest writing. In the inditing of the sonnet, always conceded to be a most difficult task, Mrs Browning was very successful. She is the equal of Wordsworth in this respect, and her "Sonnets from the Portuguese" (but thinly disguised, and giving really the history of her own feelings) are a compact and remarkable series of verses. They present us with a complete study of a human heart as it is affected by the passion of love. First, there is the soul expecting death, when suddenly life is revivified by love; then the grave, which had seemed inevitable, is put behind the soul; and finally comes the sequel, the marriage of those whose history has been traced in the Sonnets. The unity and psychological interest of this series of poems are their most prominent features.
Mrs Browning's fame chiefly rests upon Aurora Leigh, except with diligent and reverent students of her other works. The longest poem, nevertheless, which came from her hand is the one, to quote her own words, into which her "highest convictions upon life and art have entered." Yet it has had the result of causing a wide diversity of opinion upon its merits. Extravagant encomiums or unjust aspersions are generally awarded to it. For a poem of such magnitude unity is essential, and this we find to be lacking. It has not the one purpose—never ignored and never forgotten which runs through In Memoriam. One of its great charms, however, viz., its intense subjectivity, will prevent Aurora Leigh from falling into desuetude. The writer unfolds with great beauty of expression the truth that that is real art which assists in any degree to lead back the soul to contemplate God, the supreme artist of the universe. But notwithstanding its philosophy, as a solution for many of the problems of our social existence, the poem must be pronounced a failure. It is charged with passages of lofty poetry, though occasionally it falls into mediocrity. It is to be regarded rather as an autobiography (which indeed it claims to be) than as a poem characterized by fine conception or perfect execution. The position of Mrs Browning as a poet is now yielded. Her genius was perhaps as great as that of any poet of our generation, but circumstances retarded its highest possible development. In certain intellectual qualities she was inferior to Tennyson and the author of Sordello, but in others she was their superior. Be her exact niche, however, what it may, she occupies a favoured place in English literature, and is undoubtedly one of the few leading poets of the 19th century. Her poetry is that which refines, chastens, and elevates. Much of it is imperishable, and although she did not reach the height of the few mighty singers of all time, she has shown us the possibility of the highest forms of the poetic art being within the scope of woman's genius.
