her feat
To make a twice-told tale of God."

And to his reverential eyes--

"The Ages one great minster seem,
That throbs with praise and prayer."

And his hope for the world is expressed in "Godminster Chimes," where he
says:--

"O chime of sweet Saint Charity,
Peal soon that Easter morn
When Christ for all shall risen be,
And in all hearts new born!
That Pentecost when utterance clear
To all men shall be given,
When all shall say _My Brother_ here,
And hear _My Son_ in heaven!"

Of his own personal trust he gives a picture in "Sea-Weed:"--

"The drooping sea-weed hears, in night abyssed,
Far and more far the wave's receding shocks,
Nor doubts, for all the darkness and the mist,
That the pale shepherdess will keep her tryst,
And shoreward lead again her foam-fleeced flocks.

"For the same wave that rims the Carib shore
With momentary brede of pearl and gold,
Goes hurrying thence to gladden with its roar
Lorn weeds bound fast on rocks of Labrador,
By love divine on one sweet errand rolled.

"And though Thy healing waters far withdraw,
I too can wait, and feed on hope of Thee
And of the clear recurrence of Thy law,
Sure that the parting grace my morning saw
Abides its time to come in search of me."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BROWNING.

Comparatively little has been known of the lives of these poets. The
fact of their having lived in Italy throughout their married life kept
them somewhat aloof from the gossip-loving writers of their own country;
and the tourists, both from England and America, who were so fond of
calling upon them there, seldom succeeded in establishing anything like
intimate relations with them.

The little that is known can be briefly stated. Browning's father was a
gentleman of wealth and of original character, who allowed the striking
individuality of his son Robert to develop itself in a natural way
instead of attempting to cramp him into the mould of the other young
Englishmen of his rank and time. At an early age he went to Italy, where
he passed several years in diligent study of the institutions and art of
that favored land as well as of her literature both ancient and modern.
Young Browning had a great passion for these studies, and a great
fondness for Italian life, with which he familiarized himself in all the
different provinces and all the principal cities, living for long