Robert Browning is one of the greatest poets of the Victorian age—perhaps of any age. His verses have a power and drama that are unsurpassed. Appreciate and enjoy selections from some of his greatest and most accessible works in a volume created expressly for young people, with magnificent, specially commissioned color paintings. The characters are vividly illustrated, sometimes pictures in the midst of the action, other times conveying the sentiment of a piece. Browning himself—high spirited, bold, enthusiastic—comes to life as well, from his early childhood in a highly educated family to his famous romance with poet Elizabeth Barrett, to his last months, which were as full of energy and spirit as any before.

Browning's flair for the "dramatic monologue," in which he gets inside the thoughts and feelings of his speakers, rather than just relating their physical actions, is wonderfully effective. As he reveals the truth of his characters, he will get children thinking, sparking an understanding of themselves and their world. Kids will feel the joy in his words, "God's in his heaven—all's right with the world!"—the rhythm of galloping horses in his chant, "As I ride, as I ride, with a full heart for my guide..." They will hear echoes of an ancient civilization as a young man waits for his loved one among the ruins of the past.

From "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," his retelling of the famous (and fearsome) fable that he wrote especially for a child, to "Prospice," with its unforgettable

"Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place..."

These verses, containing some of the most famous phrases in the English language, will move and inspire you, as well as stimulate your imagination.

From the dust jacket flaps