Dramatis Personæ is a poetry collection by Robert Browning. It was published in 1864.
Contents
Background
Browning wrote the collection in London, where he had returned with his son after the death of his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It was his first publication after a nine-year hiatus. During this time, Browning's reputation was fluctuating, and Dramatis Personae along with The Ring and the Book, which is widely considered his greatest work, were enough to begin a critical re-evaluation of the writer.
The poems
The poems in Dramatis Personae are dramatic, with a wide range of narrators. The narrator is usually in a situation that reveals to the reader some aspect of his personality. Instead of speeches that are intended for others' ears, most are soliloquies. They are generally darker than the poems found in Men and Women, his previous collection, and along with The Ring and the Book these poems embody a turning point in Browning's style. Browning's poetry after this point most notably touches on religion and marital distress, two potent issues of his time period.
This new style was appreciated, as Dramatis Personae sold enough copies for a second edition to be published, which was a first in Browning's career. However, though he gained respect, Browning didn't have much commercial success as a poet. The sales of this work and most notably his Collected Poems were helped by public sympathy after the death of his wife.
Poems in the collection
1st edition
James Lee
Gold Hair: A Story of Pornic
The Worst of It
Dîs Aliter Visum; or, Le Byron de Nos Jours
Too Late
Abt Vogler
Rabbi ben Ezra
A Death in the Desert
Caliban upon Setebos; or, Natural Theology in the Island
Confessions
May and Death
Prospice
Youth and Art
A Face
A Likeness
Mr. Sludge, "The Medium"
Apparent Failure
Epilogue
Other editions
Deaf and Dumb
Eurydice to Orpheus