Home-thoughts, from abroad
Robert Browning was born on 7 May 1812 in London, England, and he died on 12 December 1889 in Venice, Kingdom of Italy, at the age of 77.
A poet and playwright, Browning wrote dramatic monologues that put him in high regard among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings, and challenging vocabulary and syntax.
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Oh, to be in England Now that April’s there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England — now!
And after April, when May follows, And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows! Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge Leans to the field and scatters on the clover Blossoms and dewdrops — at the bent spray’s edge — That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, Lest you should think he never could recapture The first fine careless rapture! And though the fields look rough with hoary dew, All will be gay when noontide wakes anew The buttercups, the little children’s dower — Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!