Browning was born in 1812 in Camberwell, a suburb of London. His father, a bank clerk, had a 6000- volume book collection, from which Browning read widely. Most of Browning's education came at home from his artistically inclined, nonconformist parents. It is believed he was proficient at reading and writing by age five and by age fourteen had learned Latin, Greek, and French. At ten, Browning attended Peckam School, where he remained for four years. In 1825, he received a volume of Percy Shelley's poetry and was utterly taken with it, declaring himself a devotee of the poet. In 1828, Browning enrolled at the University of London but soon left, preferring to read and learn at his own pace.

In 1833, Browning's first work, the long poem "Pauline," was published anonymously. The dramatic poem "Paracelsus" appeared in 1835 to lukewarm reviews. "Porphyria's Lover" was published a year later in a small...