Untitled Document

Chronology

1812 Born in Camberwell, a London suburb.

1820 goes to boarding school in Peckham.

1826 Begins writing poetry, influenced largely by Shelley. Has learned French, Italian, Latin, and Greek.

1828 Attends London University for a semester. Returns home, to study, write, and publish (at his father's expense) poetry. He will live at home until his thirties.

1833 Anonymously publishes his first work, the autobiographical Pauline, A Fragment of a Confession. Starts work on Sordello.

1834 Travels across Europe to Saint Petersburg, Russia; returns home.

1835 Publishes Paracelsus. which wins literary praise.

1837 Strafford, the first of a series of unsuccessful plays, is produced and published.

1838 First visit to Italy.

1840 Publishes Sordello, a long narrative poem in dramatic monologue. It gains a reputation as "unintelligible" and "meaningless," establishing Browning as an obscure poet.

1841 Begins publishing a series of books under the title Bells and Pomegranates; composed mostly of plays. Publishes Pippa Passes.

1842 Publishes collection of poems called Dramatic Lyrics, including notably "My Last Duchess."

1843-1844 Production of three now obscure plays. Visits Italy for a second time.

1845 Writes a letter to Elizabeth Barrett praising her poetry. Visits her and declares his love. Publication of Dramatic Romances and Lyrics.

1846 Publication of A Soul's Tragedy, concluding the Bells and Pomegranates series. Marries Elizabeth Barrett, secretly. They settle in Florence, Italy, where they will live in a happy marriage for fifteen years.

1849 Robert Barrett-Browning ("Pen") is born

1850 Publishes Christmas Eve and Easter Day.

1855 Publishes a two-volume poetry collection, Men and Women; it includes most of his best works, including "Fra Lippo Lippi" and "Andrea del Sarto."

1861 Elizabeth Barrett Browning dies; Browning moves to London with his son "Pen."

1864 Publishes Dramatis Personae.

1868 Publishes The Ring and the Book, a long narrative poem of greed, deception, and murder; based on roman murder and trial. Popular success

1871-1887 Publishes over a dozen volumes of poetry during this period, which now reside in near-obscurity. They include narrative poems such as Red-Cotton Nightcap Country and the two collections of Dramatic Idyls, verse plays such as The Inn Album, and translations from Greek such as The Agamemnon of Aeschylus.

1880 Dr. F. J. Furnivall and others establish the Browning Society in London. They study his works and idolize him.

1889 Publishes Asolando, a last collection of poems, and an edition of his complete works. Dies in Venice of bronchitis; is buried in Poets' Comer of Westminster Abbey.