Excerpt from A Primer of Browning There are few works in our literature which so well repay careful and loving study as the poems of Robert Browning. To know Browning well is to have acquired a liberal education. The British public have taken a long time in finding this out, but it is now recognized that his claims cannot be neglected by those who would think high thoughts and commune with noble souls. It has been the fashion to call the poet obscure, analytical and introspective, and this by those who have never taken the pains to learn really what he is. The truth is, he frequently deals with subjects that in their nature are profound; but though he treats obscure matters deeply, it is not true to say that he deals with deep subjects obscurely. As a poet he is very varied. He has written many exquisite love poems, some charming lyrics, many dramatic monologues, and has told the story of a crowd of half-forgotten persons more or less important in their time and way. The aim of this Primer is to indicate briefly the subjects treated in the different poems, and to indicate in plain language their main outlines. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.