History Creator / RobertBrowning

* "Literature/ChildeRolandToTheDarkTowerCame" (1855)

* "The Ring and the Book" (1868-69)

* UnreliableNarrator: The vast majority of Browning's poems are dramatic monologues, written in the voice of a fictional character or [[PublicDomainCharacter historical figure]]. The reader is left to figure out how much of what they're saying is true and how much is SelfServingMemory.

* UnreliableNarrator: The vast majority of Browning's poems are dramatic monologues, written in the voice of a fictional character or historical figure. The reader is left to figure out how much of what they're saying is true and how much is SelfServingMemory.

* "Literature/LoveAmongTheRuins1855

-->-- '''Robert Browning''' from ''Love among the Ruins''

->In one year they sent a million fighters forth\\

[[http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173019 Love is best.]]

Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) is one of the best-known and best-regarded poets from UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain.

Browning was born in Camberswell, England, the child of a family of well-to-do abolitionists. His father had a library of some 6,000 books that influenced Robert's literary development. At the age of 12, he wrote his first collection of poetry, [[OldShame which he later destroyed]]. His parents were technically gentlefolk, who had inherited much land in slave plantations in the West Indies, but his father [[DefectorFromDecadence worked as a clerk rather than profit from slavery.]] Browning followed his parents' noble example by [[BrilliantButLazy living at home and staying completely dependent on them until he was thirty-four.]] "Pauline, a fragment of a confession" was self-published (paid for by his aunt) in 1833. ''Paracelsus'', about [[UsefulNotes/{{Paracelsus}} the 16th century scientist]], was published in 1835, and was his first work to gain notice in the London literary scene.

Browning was born in Camberswell, England, the child of a family of well-to-do abolitionists. His father had a library of some 6,000 books that influenced Robert's literary development. At the age of 12, he wrote his first collection of poetry, [[OldShame which he later destroyed]]. His parents were technically gentlefolk, who had inherited much land in slave plantations in the West Indies, but his father [[DefectorFromDecadence worked as a clerk rather than profit from slavery.]] Browning followed his parents' noble example by [[BrilliantButLazy living at home and staying completely dependent on them until he was thirty-four.]] "Pauline, a fragment of a confession" was self-published (paid for by his aunt) in 1833. ''Paracelsus'', about [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus the 16th century scientist]], was published in 1835, and was his first work to gain notice in the London literary scene.

* BuxomIsBetter: "A Tocatta of Galuppi's"

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* "Love Among the Ruins" (1855)

* BrokenPedestal: "The Lost Leader" is about Browning's disappointment in Creator/WilliamWordsworth in turning away from English literalism and taking a government job.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Many of Browning's poems were about subjects that the Victorians didn't typically write poems about--sex, obsession, murder. "Porphyria's Lover" is about a deranged murderer, the speaker in "My Last Duchess" appears to have ordered the death of his wife, and the speaker of "The Laboratory" is trying to obtain poison to kill her romantic rival, and his magnum opus, ''The Ring and the Book,'' is about a nobleman who had his pregnant wife and her parents stabbed to death. This kind of thing was written about in Victorian novels by people like Creator/CharlesDickens, but you know, you expected novels to be sensational. You expected poetry to be literary and elevated.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Many of Browning's poems were about subjects that the Victorians didn't typically write poems about--sex, obsession, murder. "Porphyria's Lover" is about a deranged murderer, the speaker in "My Last Duchess" appears to have ordered the death of his wife, and the speaker of "The Laboratory" is trying to obtain poison to kill her romantic rival, and his magnum opus, "The Ring and the Book," is about a nobleman who had his pregnant wife and her parents stabbed to death. This kind of thing was written about in Victorian novels by people like Creator/CharlesDickens, but you know, you expected novels to be sensational. You expected poetry to be literary and elevated.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Many of Browning's poems were about subjects that the Victorians didn't typically write poems about--sex, obsession, murder. "Porphyria's Lover" is about a deranged murderer, the speaker in "My Last Duchess" appears to have ordered the death of his wife, and the speaker of "The Laboratory" is trying to obtain poison to kill her romantic rival. This kind of thing was written about in Victorian novels by people like Creator/CharlesDickens, but you know, you expected novels to be sensational. You expected poetry to be literary and elevated.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "The Confessional" the speaker, a woman, describes what certainly sounds like her lover giving her an orgasm.
--> This poor wretched body, grim and gaunt\\
Was kissed all over till it burned\\
By lips the truest; love e'er turned\\
His heart's own tint: one night they kissed\\
My soul out in a burning mist.

* ''Literature/ChildeRolandToTheDarkTowerCame'' (1855)

* "Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin" (1842)

* "Childe Roland to [[Franchise/TheDarkTower the Dark Tower]] Came" (1855)

Robert Browning (1812-1889) is one of the best-known and best-regarded poets from UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain.

* ''The Ring and the Book'' (1868-69)

* TheNounAndTheNoun: ''The Ring and the Book''