From AudioFile
Thinking of the poems of Browning, one imagines Mediterranean lushness, sensuous music without rival. At first hearing, therefore, Frederick Davidson's voice--austere, clipped, world-weary--seems inappropriate, that is, until one hears how he carves the verse with his voice. Instead of producing the anticipated melodies, he delivers sound in slabs with ironic angles. Davidson's renderings are marvelous and unexpected. The recording doesn't list its contents. Besides making it difficult for a listener to locate favorite poems, this oversight conceals the absence of significant poems. J.F.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Book Description
Robert Browning, a towering poetic presence of the Victorian era, was hailed by Henry James as a tremendous and incomparable modern. The sheer immediacy and colloquial energy of his poetry ensure enduring appeal. Browning paints landscapes both suburban and sublime, combines lyric and demotic language, and introduces everyday events of the streets and marketplace into the rarified world of Victorian poetry.

This edition includes examples from the early Dramatic Lyrics (1842) and Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845); from the masterpieces Men and Women (1855) and Dramatis Personae (1864), and from the less familiar works of his later years. Together they convey the intensity, the lyric beauty, and the vitality of Browning's poetry.


Card catalog description
Nineteen poems by Robert Browning include "My Last Duchess," "Porphyria's Lover," "Fra Lippo Lippi," and "Love among the Ruins."


About the Author
Robert Browning (1812-1889), the son of a bank clerk, was largely self-taught. In 1846, he married Elizabeth Barrett and lived with her, mainly in Italy, until her death in 1861, at which time he returned to London. Among his best known works is The Ring and the Book, published in 1872.

Daniel Karlin is a professor at University College, London, and editor of The Penguin Book of Victorian Verse.

ANNOTATION

This magnificently produced edition includes some of this Victorian poet's most popular works, including "My Last Duchess, " "The Bishop Orders His Tomb, " and "Andrea del Sarto." 5 1/2 8 1/4. Gramercy***

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The 100 poems in this book are selected from Nicholas Gordon's Web site. They include poems in free and blank verse, sonnets, villanelles, and name and number poems (poems that spell out names and numbers read vertically down the left side).