Born in Camberwell, London, in 1812, Robert Browning was the son of a bank clerk, a learned man who kept an extensive library. Browning attended a boarding school near Camberwell as a boy, and later attended the University of London for a time. However, he preferred to pursue his education at home. Aside from being tutored in subjects such as foreign languages, music, boxing, and riding, Browning read widely. His diverse interests provided him with a store of knowledge from which he drew when composing his poems. In 1833 Browning published his first poem, Pauline, anonymously: the work failed to sell and went virtually unnoticed by critics. Browning took trips to Russia in 1834 and Italy in 1837, from which he would draw for future poems. Pauline was followed by Paracelsus (1835); published at Browning’s father’s expense, it too was ignored, and Sordello (1840) was a critical failure that actually impeded Browning’s poetic reputation. Browning briefly experimented with writing plays, but soon abandoned the stage, though his fascination with the dramatic monologue appears to date from that time. Between 1841 and 1846, Browning produced an eight-volume series of poetic pamphlets, Bells and Pomegranates.
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