He determines; and quickly--"Let the murderer die to-morrow." Then comes the dreadful passion of Guido in the condemned cell, of which I have spoken.

And then, one would think the poem would have closed.

But no, the epilogue succeeds, in which, after all the tragedy, humour reigns supreme.

It brings us into touch with all that happened in this case after the execution of Guido; the letters written by the spectators, the lawyer's view of the deed, the gossip of Rome upon the interesting occasion.

No piece of humour in Browning's poetry, and no portrait-sketching, is better than the letter written by a Venetian gentleman in Rome giving an account of the execution.