This was what happened to Browning; like every one else, he had to discover first the universe, and then humanity, and at last himself.

With him, as with all others, the great paradox and the great definition of life was this, that the ambition narrows as the mind expands.

In _Dramatic Lyrics_ he discovered the one thing that he could really do better than any one else--the dramatic lyric.

The form is absolutely original: he had discovered a new field of poetry, and in the centre of that field he had found himself.
The actual quality, the actual originality of the form is a little difficult to describe.

But its general characteristic is the fearless and most dexterous use of grotesque things in order to express sublime emotions.