“I love best the poets who hurt me. When in reading a poem I come across some line that thrusts itself into my heart — then is my soul knit unto the soul of that poet forevermore. Browning hurts me worse than any poet I have ever read — so I love him most.”
“The Bishop Orders His Tomb At Saint Praxed’s Church.” A great dramatic monologue — “Shrewd was that snatch from out the corner South / He graced his carrion with, God curse the same!” Bitterness, envy, spite, greed, fear, vanity, to the very end of life.
Yeah, he was a monologuist, right? His poems were character studies?
I have a bunch of his stuff (because I feel I must) … maybe I’ll give it another look-see. Thanks.