A broad selection of poems from the early "Dramatic Lyrics" and "Dramatic
Romances and Lyrics", Browning's best known works, "Men and Women" and
"Dramatis Personae", and the less familiar works of his later years.Browning was one of the greatest of English poets, whose intense and
original imagination enabled him to transform any subject he chose - whether
everyday or sublime - into startling memorable verse. In his work he brought to
life the personalities of a diverse range of characters, and introduced a new
immediacy, colloquial energy and psychological complexity to the poetry of his
day. This selection brings together verse ranging from early dramatic
monologues such as the chilling 'My Last Duchess' and the ribald 'Lippo Lippi',
which show his gift for inhabiting the mind of another, to the popular
children's poem 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' and many lesser known works. All
display his innovative techniques of diction, rhythm and symbol, which
transformed Victorian poetry and influenced major poets of the twentieth
century such as Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and Robert Frost.
