An invitation from the first actor of the day to write a tragedy for him was not likely, under these circumstances, to be declined; and during the whole winter of 1836-37 the story of Sordello remained untold, while its author plunged, with a security and relish which no one who knew only his poetry could have foretold, into the pragmatic politics and diplomatic intrigues of _Strafford_.

The performance of the play on May 1, 1837 introduced further distractions.

And _Sordello_ had made little further progress, when, in the April of the following year, Browning embarked on a sudden but memorable trip to the South of Europe.

It gave him his first glimpse of Italy and of the Mediterranean, and plenty of the rough homely intercourse with men which he loved.

He travelled, in a fashion that suited his purse and his hardy nature, by a merchant vessel from London to the Adriatic.