long mornings at his desk. He felt the responsibility of genius
without its inspiration.

Browning has given a little trouble to bibliographers by
redistributing the poems originally published in the three works,
_Dramatic Lyrics_ (1842), _Dramatic Romances and Lyrics_ (1845),
and _Men and Women_ (1855). The _Dramatic Lyrics_ at first contained
sixteen pieces; the _Dramatic Romances and Lyrics_ twenty-three; the
_Men and Women_ fifty-one. In the final arrangement the first of
these included fifty; the second, called simply _Dramatic Romances_,
twenty-five; whilst the last was reduced to thirteen. He also
changed the titles of many of the poems, revised the text somewhat,
classified two separate poems under one title, _Claret and Tokay_,
and _Here's to Nelson's Memory_, under the heading _Nationality in
Drinks_, and united the two sections of _Saul_ in one poem. It is
notable that he omitted not one, and indeed it is remarkable that
with the exception of _The Boy and the Angel_, _A Lover's Quarrel_,
_Mesmerism_, and _Another Way of Love_, every poem in the long
list has the indubitable touch of genius; and even these four are
not the worst of Browning's compositions.

It would have seemed to us perhaps more fitting if Browning had
grouped the contents of all three works under the one heading
_Men and Women_; for that would fairly represent the sole subject
of his efforts. Perhaps he felt that the title was too general, and
as a matter of fact, it would apply equally well to his complete
poetical works. I think, however, that he especially loved the
appellation _Dramatic Lyrics_, for he put over half of the poems
finally under that category. The word "dramatic" obsessed Browning.