Itwouldbeimpossibleforthemostindolentreaderorcritictoattributeit，evenifanonymous，toanotherparentage。ColeridgealludessomewheretocertainversesofWordsworth’s，withthedeclarationthatifhehadmetthemhowlinginthedeserthewouldhaverecognisedtheirauthorship。
　　“Fifine“wouldnotevenhavetohowl。
　　BrowningwasvisitingPorniconeautumn，whenhesawthegipsywhowastheoriginalof“Fifine“。InthewordsofMrs。Orr，“hisfancywasevidentlysetroamingbythegipsy’saudacity，herstrength
　　thecontrastwhichshepresentedtothemorespiritualtypesofwomanhood；
　　andthiscontrasteventuallyfoundexpressioninapathetictheoryoflife，inwhichtheseoppositetypesandtheircorrespondingmodesofattractionbecamethenecessarycomplementofeachother。Ashelaiddownthetheory，Mr。Browningwouldbespeakinginhisownperson。Buthewouldturnintosomeoneelseintheactofworkingitoutforitinsensiblycarriedwithitapleaforyieldingtothoseoppositeattractions，notonlysuccessively，butatthesametime；andamodifiedDonJuanwouldgrowupunderhispen。“
　　OnedrawbacktoanunconditionalenjoymentofBalzacisthateverynowandagainthestudentofthe`ComedieHumaine’
　　resentsthetooobviousdisplayoftheforcesthatpropeltheeffect
　　alesserphaseofthewearinesswhichensuesuponmuchreadingofthemere“humandocuments“oftheGoncourtschoolofnovelists。
　　Inthesameway，wetoooftenseeBrowningworkinguptheelectricalqualities，sothat，whenthefulminationcomes，weunderstand“justhowitwasproduced，“and，asillogicallyaschildrenbeforeatooelaborateconjurer，concludethatthereisnotsomuchinthisparticularpoeticfeatasinotherswhich，likeHerrick’smaids，continuallydodeceive。Tomethisisaffirmableof“FifineattheFair“。
　　Thepoetseemstoknowsoverywellwhatheisdoing。
　　Ifhedidnottakethereadersomuchintohisconfidence，ifhewouldrelymoreupontheliberalgraceofhisearlierverseandlessuponthetrainedsubtletyofhisathleticintellect，thecharmwouldbethegreater。Thepoemwouldhaveasurerdurationasoneoftheauthor’sgreaterachievements，ifthereweremorefrequentandmoreprolongedinsistenceonthenotestruckinthelinesSection73aboutthehill-stream，infantofmistanddew，fallingovertheledgeofthefissuredclifftofinditsfateinsmokebelow，asitdisappearsintothedeep，“embitteredevermore，tomaketheseaonedropmorebigthereby：“
　　orinthecloudysplendourofthedescriptionofnightfallSection106：
　　orinthewindyspringfreshnessof“Hence，whentheearthbeganafreshitslifeinMay，Andfruit-treesbloomed，andwaveswouldwanton，andthebayRuffleitswealthofweed，andstranger-birdsarrive，Andbeaststakeeachamate。“……
　　Butitschieffaultseemstometobeitslackofthattransmutiveglowofrhythmicemotionwithoutwhichnopoemcanendure。
　　Thisrhythmicenergyis，inherently，adistinctthingfromintellectualemotion。Metricmusicmaybealientotheadequateexpressionofthelatter，whereasrhythmicemotioncanhavenootherappropriateissue。Ofcourse，inasense，allcreativeartisrhythmicinkind：buthereIamspeakingonlyofthatcreativeenergywhichevolvesthegerminalideathroughthemediumoflanguage。Theenergyoftheintellectundercreativestimulusmayproducelordlyissuesinprose：
　　butpoetryofahighintellectualordercanbetheoutcomeonlyofanintellectfusedtowhiteheat，ofintellectualemotiononfire
　　as，inthefinesayingofGeorgeMeredith，passionisnoblestrengthonfire。
　　Innumerableexamplescouldbetakenfromanypartofthepoem，butasitwouldnotbejusttoselectthemostobviouslydefectivepassages，herearetwowhicharecertainlyfairlyrepresentativeofthegenerallevel
　　“AndIbecameaware，scarcelythewordescapedmylips，thatswiftensuedinsilenceandbystealth，andyetwithcertitude，aformidablechangeoftheamphitheatrewhichheldtheCarnival；
　　ALTHOUGHTHEHUMANSTIRCONTINUEDJUSTTHESAME
　　AMIDTHATSHIFTOFSCENE。“No。105
　　“Andwherei’theworldisallthiswonder，youdetailsotrippingly，espied？Mymirrorwouldreflectatall，thin，pale，deep-eyedpersonage，prettyonce，itmaybe，doubtlessstilllovingacertaingraceyetlingersifyouwillbutallthiswonder，where？“No。40
　　Here，andinahundredothersuchpassages，wehavetherhythm，ifnotofthebestprose，atleastnotthatofpoetry。
　　Will“Fifine“andpoemsofitskindstandre-reading，re-perusaloverandover？Thatisoneofthemostdefinitetests。
　　Inthepressureoflifecanweaffordmuchtimetoanythingbuttheverybestnay，tothevastmassevenofthatwhichcloselyimpingesthereupon？
　　Formyself，intheinstanceof“Fifine“，Iadmitthatifre-perusalbecontrolledbypleasureIamcontentalwaysexceptingafewscatterednoblepassageswiththePrologueandEpilogue。
　　AlittlevolumeofthoseSummariesofBrowning’showstimulatingacompanionitwouldbeinthosehourswhenthemindwouldfainbreatheamoreliberalair!
　　Asfor“Jocoseria“，*itseemstomethepoorestofBrowning’sworks，andIcannothelpthinkingthatultimatelytheonlygoldgraindiscoverablethereinwillbe“Ixion“，thebeautifulpenultimatepoembeginning
　　“NeverthetimeandtheplaceAndthelovedonealtogether；“
　　andthethrush-likeoverture，closing
　　“Whatoftheleafage，whatoftheflower？
　　Rosesemboweringwithnoughttheyembower!
　　Comethen!completeincompletion，Ocomer，Pantthroughtheblueness，perfectthesummer!
　　BreathebutonebreathRose-beautyabove，AndallthatwasdeathGrowslife，growslove，Growslove!“
　　*Inalettertoafriend，alongwithanearlycopyofthisbook，Browningstatedthat“thetitleistakenfromtheworkofMelander`Schwartzmann’，reviewed，byacuriouscoincidence，inthe`Blackwood’ofthismonth。Ireferredtoitinanoteto`Paracelsus’。ThetwoHebrewquotationsputintogiveagravelooktowhatismerefunandinvention
　　beingtranslatedamountto1`ACollectionofManyLies’：
　　and2，anoldsaying，`FromMosestoMosesarosenonelikeMoses’……“
　　In1881the“BrowningSociety“wasestablished。Itiseasytoridiculeanyinstitutionofthekindmucheasierthantobeconsiderateofotherpeople’searnestconvictionsandaims，ortobehelpfultotheirobject。
　　Thereisalwaysaridiculoussidetoexcessiveenthusiasm，particularlyobvioustopersonsincapableofenthusiasmofanykind。
　　Withsomemistakes，andnotafewmoreorlessgrotesqueabsurdities，themembersofthevariousEnglishandAmericanBrowningSocietiesareyettobecongratulatedonthegoodworktheyhave，collectively，accomplished。
　　Theirpublicationsaremostinterestingandsuggestive：
　　ultimatelytheywillbeinvaluable。ThemembershavealsodoneagoodworkincausingsomeofBrowning’splaystobeproducedagainonthestage，andinMissAlmaMurrayandothershavefoundsympatheticandableexponentsofsomeofthepoet’smostattractive`dramatispersonae’。
　　TherecanbenoquestionastothepowerfulimpetusgivenbytheSocietytoBrowning’ssteadily-increasingpopularity。Nothingshowshisjudiciousgoodsensemorethantheletterhewrote，privately，toMr。EdmundYates，atthetimeoftheSociety’sfoundation。
　　“TheBrowningSociety，Ineednotsay，aswellasBrowninghimself，arefairgameforcriticism。Ihadnomoretodowiththefoundingitthanthebabeunborn；and，asWilkeswasnoWilkeite，IamquiteotherthanaBrowningite。ButIcannotwishharmtoasocietyof，withafewexceptions，namesunknowntome，whoarebusiedaboutmybookssodisinterestedly。Theexaggerationsprobablycomeofthefifty-years’-longchargeofunintelligibilityagainstmybooks；suchreactionsarepossible，thoughIneverlookedforthebeginningofonesosoon。
　　Thatthereisagrotesquesidetothethingiscertain；
　　butIhavebeensurprisedandtouchedbywhatcannotbuthavebeenwellintentioned，Ithink。Anyhow，asIneverfeltinconveniencedbyhardwords，youwillnotexpectmetowaxbumptiousbecauseofunduecompliment：soenoughof`Browning’，
　　exceptthatheisyoursverytruly，`whilethismachineistohim。’“