browning’s poetic work-time covered a period of about fifty-six years, (1833-1889,) and during this time he published over thirty volumes of verse, containing more than two hundred and thirty poems, the longest, the ring and the book, extending to nearly twenty-one thousand lines. it was an immense output, greater i think, in mass, than that of almost any other english poet except shakespeare. the mere fact of such productiveness is worth noting, because it is a proof of the activity of the poet’s mind, and also because it may throw some light upon certain peculiarities in the quality of his work.

browning not only wrote much himself, he was also the cause of much writing in others. commentaries, guide-books, handbooks, and expositions have grown up around his poetry so fast that the vines almost hide the trellis. the browning literature now demands not merely a shelf, but a whole