Robert Browning

Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889) was an English poet and playwright.

Early life

He was born in Camberwell, Surrey, the second son of Robert and Sarah Wiedemann Browning. His father was a man of fine intellect and equally fine character, who worked as a well-paid clerk in the Bank of England and so managed to amass a library of around 6000 books — many of them highly obscure and arcane. Thus Robert was raised in a household with a good literary resource. His mother, to whom he was ardently attached, was a devout Nonconformist, the daughter of a German shipowner who had settled in Dundee, and was alike intellectually and morally worthy of his affection. The only other member of the family was a younger sister, also highly gifted, who was the sympathetic companion of his later years. They lived simply, but his father encouraged Robert's interest in literature and the arts.

Related Topics:
Camberwell - Surrey - Bank of England - Book - Literary - Nonconformist - Art

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In his childhood he was distinguished by his love of poetry and natural history. At 12 he had written a book of poetry which he destroyed when he could not find a publisher. After being at one or two private schools, and showing an insuperable dislike to school life, he was educated by a tutor.

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He was a rapid learner and by the age of fourteen was fluent in French, Greek, Italian, and Latin as well as his native English. He became a great admirer of the Romantic poets, especially Shelley. In imitation of the latter, he briefly became an atheist and a vegetarian, but in later life he looked back on this as a passing phase. At age sixteen he attended University College, London, but dropped out after his first year.

Related Topics:
French - Greek - Italian - Latin - English - Romantic - Shelley - Atheist - Vegetarian - University College, London

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Through his mother he inherited some musical talent, and composed settings, for various songs.

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