Here he showed himself a picturesque and poignant artist in a wholly original manner.

And the two main characteristics of the work were the two characteristics most commonly denied to Browning, both by his opponents and his followers, passion and beauty; but beauty had enlarged her boundaries in new modes of dramatic arrangement, and passion had found new voices in fantastic and realistic verse.

Those who suppose Browning to be a wholly philosophic poet, number a great majority of his commentators.
But when we come to look at the actual facts, they are strangely and almost unexpectedly otherwise.
Let any one who believes in the arrogantly intellectual character of Browning's poetry run through the actual repertoire of the _Dramatic Lyrics_.

The first item consists of those splendid war chants called "Cavalier Tunes." I do not imagine that any one will maintain that there is any very mysterious metaphysical aim in them.

The second item is the fine poem "The Lost Leader," a poem which expresses in perfectly lucid and lyrical verse a perfectly normal and old-fashioned indignation.