MR BIRRELL ON BROWNING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume xxix, Issue 7543, 20 July 1908, Page 1

MR BIRRELL ON BROWNING.

,J lr irrell's introduction to the Browning" volume in the Golden i oets Series (Jack) has this passage :— If Browning is to be surveyed as a whole and all his "much verse" is to be put in the- balance against his chance ol that traction of time which mortals call immortality—the beam has already Kicked against him—for a good part oi what he wrote is in dire extremities. 'Fifine at the Fair' is a poem full "oi wisdom and a certain measure of pathos, but who, who-reads it is under thirty?" »»

"Some wrecks," Mr Birrell adds, "are total, from others half the cargo may _be saved. 'Tempus edax rerum.' He is indeed a lucky poet who can save 50 or even 25 per cent of his output from oblivion."

Of Browning's philosophy Mr Birrell thinks we have perhaps heard enough, but he says:— ..--.•

"It is only fair to remember that Browning was a systeniatised thinker— at least much more so than Tennyeon, who was very elementary and.primitive indeed in his beliefs and iinbelievings: and it- is permisiblo to a man dwelling snugly under the roof-tree of a system to be more composed in his bearings, and indifferent to the outcome oi tilings, than is the case with/a neighbour who is exposed to the"fury of the storm without so much (so to speak) as a coat to his .back."-, -'•;'

Browning was cast in ' a ; differeni -mould from Tennyson. "He was neither elemental nor primitive. Must it be black or white? He was prepared, as we know, to argue the point. Such temperaments should "not hastily be charged," adds Mr Birrell," with indifference or untruthfulness."

Referring to Browning's optimism, Mr Birrell points out that— • -:i

"Tennyson's fits of depression,- his second 'Locksley 'Hall,' his dark forebodings, his • dim;: lights, are to m"any minds more impressive because more seemingly true to the facts, and therefore more truly poetical than this hearty but unconvincing cheerfulness of Browning. One thing, however, is plain. Browning's optimism cannot.for a single moment be put down to a shutting of the oyes, to a wilffil averting of the glance- from man's life led here below for the last few thousand'years. • "Whole centuries of folly, noise, and sin. From neither the half nor the whole of human fate did he ever avert his glance. He dives into the gloomiest recesses of character, and was familiar with the blackest pages-of history. He shrinks from nothing. . . No need for any Carlyle to drag Browning, as he is said once to have dragged Emerson, into a London aium in order to whisper in his ear, 'Winna ye believe in Hell noo?' " •

To those who will persist in asking on what Browning's optimism was based, Mr Birrell thinks it is fair to reply that they must find that out for themselves. "Poets do not preserve the key of the Universe. Neither a Shakespeare nor a Newton; neither a Browning nor a Kelvin, can read its riddle."—Westminster Gazette. ; ;