Robert Browning

Robert Browning

1812–1889

Robert Browning (1812–1889) was an English poet and playwright, born in Camberwell, London. He married the poet Elizabeth Barrett in 1846 and lived with her in Italy until her death in 1861.

Browning is the master of the dramatic monologue, in which a single speaker reveals more than they intend. “My Last Duchess”, “Porphyria’s Lover”, “Fra Lippo Lippi” and “Andrea del Sarto” are classic examples, and his long poem The Ring and the Book (1868–69) retells a Roman murder case from many voices. He also wrote “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” and “Home-Thoughts, from Abroad”.

Best-known poems

All poems (47)

A 3

C 1

D 1

E 3

G 2

H 6

I 4

L 3

M 3

P 4

R 1

S 3

T 8

Y 1

In French 2

In Hungarian 2

Poets of the same era

Emily Dickinson 1830–1886 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807–1882 Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892 Lord Byron 1788–1824 Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792–1822 Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806–1861 John Greenleaf Whittier 1807–1892 William Cullen Bryant 1794–1878