Robert Browning: biography and photos

Robert Browning - a famous British poet and playwright, who lived in the XIX century. His father was at the bank. As a child, little Robert passionately carried away poetry, and romantic. Traveled a lot, even visited Russia in 1833.

The romantic poet

Robert Browning was born in London in 1812, when the Napoleonic wars were in full swing. Despite this, the parents paid much attention to the education of their son. He learned the subjects of the school program at home.

Also, a large role in his self-education and development as a person was played by numerous trips. Subsequently, he called them his faculties, and Italy at all considered his Oxford.

Like many young men of his generation, in his youth he was carried away by the work of the main British romanticist - Byron, in his work he followed his romantic principles.

The First Poems

My father dreamed that his son was engaged in some practical activity, for example, he would go to work in the bank in his footsteps. However, Robert had a different opinion. Even at the age of 16, he found the romantic works of Shelley and Keats. By his own admission, their poems also made him a poet.

In his early works, Robert Browning clearly imitates Byron. For example, in the ballad "The Death of Harold." As a result, he devoted himself entirely to the poet's profession.

In 1831 he published his first poem called "Paulina." She particularly appreciates the pantheism of Shelley, the philosophical doctrine that identifies the world around and God, and his propensity for Hellenism. The first work of Browning was rather weak, but critics reacted favorably to him. кружок, в котором в то время уже состояли Диккенс, Вордсворт и многие другие. Their positive reviews and reviews opened the way to the prestigious British literary circle, which at that time already included Dickens, Wordsworth and many others.

Travel around Europe

Robert Browning travels a lot. In 1833, at the age of 21, sent to Russia. Here he writes the poem "Ivan Ivanovich".

The next item on his trip is Italy. Here he conceives his own, perhaps, best lyrical drama "Pippa passes by", as well as his most mysterious and mysterious thing "Sordello".

Returning home, Browning decides to give up life in London in favor of silence and seclusion. In the Dulvi Forest, he finishes the mysterious drama "Sordello", as well as other plays - "Paracelsus" and "Strafford." The latter is soon staged, but with little success.

The Browning Marriage

In 37 the poet decides to marry. In 1849, Robert Browning married, his biography is now connected with the English poet Elisabeth Barrett.

Browning's wife was a painful girl who did not tolerate the severe British climate. Therefore, the couple had to move to a more favorable place for living - in sunny Florence. Here they lived for about 10 years, occasionally visiting their native London. However, Elizabeth was not able to get rid of the illness finally, in 1861 she died.

In marriage, Robert Browning was happy, the verses of the poet of this period are a vivid confirmation of this. In his work, a mood of calm and spiritual harmony emerges. Almost all the time with his wife they spent at their villa in Florence, which has always hosted many friends - writers and creative personalities. Guests note that the home atmosphere was saturated with high poetry and love.

After the death of his wife, Browning and his son return to London, where he continues his literary career. Prints a cycle of poems "Ring and book", "Actors".

His son at the same time returns to Italy, settles in Venice. In one of the regular visits to the Apennine Peninsula in 1889, Browning dies. He was 77 years old.

"Abbot Vogler"

One of the most famous poems of Robert Browning - "Abbot Vogler." In 1864, she was included in the collection "Actors." The work is devoted to a real historical character - the abbot, who lived from 1749 to 1814. He served as a Kapellmeister at the court in Prussia's Mannheim. Known he became the invention of a new type of organ.

The poem represents the emotional experience of the abbot while performing improvisations on the organ. In this case, he sees the City of the Lord, however, as soon as the music stops, a clear image is immediately erased from the memory of the lyric hero.

He is very worried about this and only at the end of the poem comes to the idea that beauty, like any glory, is impermanent. This is the meaning of the work of Robert Browning "Abbot Vogler." The poem ends with the conviction that the main thing for a person is that God hears his beautiful melodies. And all the rest is vanity and vanity.

"Pippa passes by"

In the list of key works of Browning is a lyrical drama "Pippa passes by." In the center of the story is a young worker who lives in the town of Azollo. Her thoughts are pure, she sincerely loves nature and people. She is beautiful, strong and happy, realizing that before God the merits of all people look on an equal footing.

On New Year's Eve she watches the life of her fellow citizens. Many of them are happy, but Pippa does not envy them. She is innocent, and her thoughts are filled with wild freedom. She sings, crying for love and virtue. Her song is heard by lovers - Zebald and Ottima, who just committed a crime - killed her husband Ottima. Under the influence of the girl they decide to atone for the crime by suffering and by their death.

A beautiful song of the lyrical heroine is heard by the young artist Julius, who decides to return to his beloved, who threw it. So Pippa goes through the streets of his town, transforming the life of people around her. This poem is rightfully considered one of the best in English poetry of the XIX century.

"Ring and book"

An example of a true masterpiece of the poet is the poem "The Ring and the Book." Robert Browning, whose poems at that time were extremely popular, wrote works based on the old Italian legend. It tells of the murder of Count Guido Francesca his wife Pompilia for what she had allegedly changed.

The poem consists of 12 books. Each of them - a statement by one of the actors of his vision of how events developed. With the help of this technique, we are presented with a picture in its entirety. In the poem there is no single plot and strict sequence of development of actions. The main thing that the author pays attention to is the characters and mental state of his characters.

One of the most poignant and sincere books of the poem is the monologue of the wife of Count Pompilius, who is pure and without blemish, but is forced to take the blow of fate upon herself. With Pippa from the previous work of Browning Pompilius combines naivete, purity. This is one of the most famous works written by Robert Browning. Quotations from him still diverge on the lips.

White Poems

In 1835, Browning wrote a dramatic poem in white verses - "Paracelsus." In the foreword to the work the author immediately recognizes that while working on this poem he abandoned the traditional rules of dramatic art. The reason for this is that the inner, emotional experiences of the heroes, rather than the development of external events, became the main for the author.

Browning was deeply interested in science, so the hero of the poem, he chooses the mysterious alchemist Paracelsus, who lived in the Middle Ages. In it, the poet depicts the struggle of a high human soul with the obstacles that stand in its way. There are also mystical notes. The author of the description was especially successful.

Another tragedy of the same period - "Spot on the arms". This time, Browning is inferior to the traditional concepts of dramatic art. It is written in the style of sensational dramas, and ends in a completely Shakespearean spirit - almost all the characters die. True, in Browning they commit suicide, and do not kill each other, as it basically happens in the tragedies of Shakespeare.

Poet-philosopher

One of the most brilliant poets of his era is Robert Browning. Photo of it we can now observe in a small amount, mostly preserved paintings and drawings of the poet. An elderly, but handsome man with a broad beard, a mustache and a light ironical smile is looking at us from them.

By recognition, literary scholars, Browning is a profound philosophical poet. Very often the thought that he wants to convey to his reader is much superior to the artistry of the work. All this leads to the fact that Browning's works are often vague and obscure. As a result, in England, even appeared a peculiar fashion - guessing the thoughts laid down in the poems Browning.

A vivid example of what this free interpretation of the poet's works can lead to is the poem "Childe Roland". Many admirers of the poet erroneously saw in it a new world view, guided by which they even wanted to establish a separate philosophical school. However, Browning disappointed his fans, explaining to them that this poem is written in the genre of fiction, and in just two days, no philosophical component in it laid the author was not.

In his works, Browning demonstrates his belief in the existence of the afterlife. For him, this is a reward for the life he has spent on earth.

In this earthly life, he imagines himself in bright colors. The only thing that can cloud a person is sorrow and earthly passions, but from them there is salvation. This is faith in God. However, Browning alone would not have remained in the history of English literature with some philosophical views.

His main achievement is a masterful depiction of human passions and lyrical landscapes. Often, his heroes are exemplary bearers of truth and pure truth. Such as Pippa or Pompilia.