Chapter III: Part II: Browning's Mind and Art

IX. THE POET 237
I. Divergent psychical tendencies of Browning--"romantic"
temperament, "realist" senses--blending of their
_données_ in his imaginative activity--shifting
complexion of "finite" and "infinite" 237
II. His "realism." Plasticity, acuteness, and veracity
of intellect and senses 239
III. But his realism qualified by energetic individual
preference along certain well-defined lines 245
IV. _Joy in Light and Colour_ 246
V. _Joy in Form_. Love of abruptness, of intricacy;
clefts and spikes 250
VI. _Joy in Power_. Violence in imagery and description;
in sounds; in words. Grotesqueness. Intensity.
Catastrophic action. The pregnant moment 257
VII. _Joy in Soul_. 1. Limited in Browning on the side
of simple human nature; of the family; of the
civic community; of myth and symbol 266
VIII. _Joy in Soul_. 2. Supported by Joy in Light and
Colour; in Form; in Power. 3. Extended to
(a) sub-human Nature, (b) the inanimate
products of Art; Relation of Browning's poetry to
his interpretation of life 272

X. THE INTERPRETER OF LIFE 287
I. Approximation of God, Man, Nature in the thought
of the early nineteenth century; how far reflected
in the thought of Browning 287

II. Antagonistic elements of Browning's intellect; resulting
fluctuations of his thought. Two conceptions of Reality.
Ambiguous treatment of "Matter"; of Time 290

III. Conflicting tendencies in his conception of God 295

IV. Conflicting tendencies in his treatment of Knowledge 297

V. Proximate solution of these antagonisms in the conception
of Love 300

VI. Final estimate of Browning's relation to the progressive
and conservative movements of his age 304

INDEX 310