dimmest North-east distance dawned Gibraltar grand and gray;
"Here and here did England help me: how can I help England?"--say,
Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray,
While Jove's planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.

In two instances Browning celebrates English friends in his poetry. The
poems are "Waring" and "May and Death."

Waring, who stands for Alfred Domett, is an interesting figure in
Colonial history as well as a minor light among poets. But it is highly
probable that he would not have been put into verse by Browning any more
than many other of the poet's warm friends if it had not been for the
incident described in the poem which actually took place, and made a
strong enough impression to inspire a creative if not exactly an exalted
mood on Browning's part. The incident is recorded in Thomas Powell's
"Living Authors of England," who writes of Domett, "We have a vivid
recollection of the last time we saw him. It was at an evening party a
few days before he sailed from England; his intimate friend, Mr.
Browning, was also present. It happened that the latter was introduced
that evening for the first time to a young author who had just then
appeared in the literary world [Powell, himself]. This, consequently,
prevented the two friends from conversation, and they parted from each
other without the slightest idea on Mr. Browning's part that he was
seeing his old friend Domett for the last time. Some days after when he
found that Domett had sailed, he expressed in strong terms to the writer
of this sketch the self-reproach he felt at having preferred the
conversation of a stranger to that of his old associate."

This happened in 1842, when with no good-bys, Domett sailed for New
Zealand where he lived for thirty years, and held during that time many
important official posts. Upon his return to England, Browning and he
met again, and in his poem "Ranolf and Amohia," published the year
after, he wrote the often quoted line so aptly appreciative of
Browning's genius,--"Subtlest assertor of the soul in song."

The poem belongs to the _vers de societe_ order, albeit the lightness is
of a somewhat ponderous variety. It, however, has much interest as a
character sketch from the life, and is said by those who had the
opportunity of knowing to be a capital portrait.

WARING

I

I

What's become of Waring
Since he gave us all the slip,
Chose land-t