Sharp's _Life of Browning_ has the following passage: "Shortly
before the great bell of San Marco struck ten, he turned and asked if
any news had come concerning _Asolando_, published that day. His
son read him a telegram from the publishers, telling how great the
demand was, and how favorable were the advance articles in the leading
papers. The dying poet turned and muttered, 'How gratifying!' When the
last toll of St. Mark's had left a deeper stillness than before, those
by the bedside saw a yet profounder silence on the face of him whom
they loved."
What claim does Browning make for himself? Do you find this spirit in
any of his poetry which you have read?
"DE GUSTIBUS--." (PAGE 96.)
Image the scene in the first stanza. Why are the poppies known by
their flutter, rather than their color? Note the rhyme effect and
climax in lines 11-13. What qualities predominate in the first scene?
How does the second scene differ from it? What are the characteristic
objects in the second? Has it more or less of the romantic, or of
grandeur? Compare the human element introduced in each scene. Note
the effectiveness of the epithets _a-flutter_, _wind-grieved_, _baked_,
_red-rusted_, _iron-spiked_. Show how the poem explains its title.