Robert Browning is one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century English poetry. The dramatic monologue form, which he practically invented and of which he remains the leading exponent, allowed him to write poetry of a psychologically revealing quality which can be seen as laying the foundations not only for late Victorians whom he directly influenced such as the Pre-Raphaelites, but ultimately for Modernist poetry. The Ring and the Book, an ambitious and demanding verse-novel told from ten different viewpoints, won him popular acclaim and retains its reputation as one of the great poems in English, though it is now little read compared with some of Browning’s shorter poems.This edition is a facsimile of Augustine Birrell’s 1901 edition, itself following the order and contents of the edition prepared by Browning himself in 1888. All of the published poetical works are printed, including Browning’s early verse-dramas, some staged and some intended only for print, the various volumes of shorter poetry, The Ring and the Book and the translation of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon among the other works. The contents of the volumes are as follows:Volume 1 ( pp.): Introduction to the Poetical Works by Dr. Jennifer McDonell; Pauline; Paracelsus; Strafford; Sordello; Pippa Passes; King Victor and King Charles; Dramatic Lyrics; The Return of the Druses; A Blot in the ‘Scutcheon; Colombe’s Birthday; Dramatic Romances; Luria, A Soul’s Tragedy; Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day; Men and Women; In a Balcony; Dramatis Personae; Balaustion’s Adventure; Aristophanes’ ApologyVolume 2 (777 pp.): The Ring and the Book; Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau; Fifine at the Fair; Red Cotton Nigh-Cap Country; The Inn Album; Pacchiarotto; The Agamemnon of AEschylus; La Saisiaz; The Two Poets of Croisic; Dramatic Idyls; Jocoseria; Ferishtah’s Fancies; Parleyings with Certain People of Importance in their Day; AsolandoDr. Jennifer McDonell, Lecturer at the University of New England and a specialist in Robert Browning, has written a new critical introduction to the Poetical Works.
