"Paracelsus" is not a great, but it is a memorable poem: a notable
achievement, indeed, for an author of Browning's years. Well may we
exclaim with Festus, when we regard the poet in all the greatness of his
maturity--

"The sunrise
Well warranted our faith in this full noon!"




CHAPTER IV.


The _Athenæum_ dismissed "Paracelsus" with a half contemptuous line or
two. On the other hand, the _Examiner_ acknowledged it to be a work of
unequivocal power, and predicted for its author a brilliant career. The
same critic who wrote this review contributed an article of about twenty
pages upon "Paracelsus" to the _New Monthly Magazine_, under the
heading, "Evidences of a New Dramatic Poetry." This article is ably
written, and remarkable for its sympathetic insight. "Mr. Browning," the
critic writes, "is a man of genius, he has in himself all the elements
of a great poet, philosophical as well as dramatic."

The author of this enthusiastic and important critique was John Forster.
When the _Examiner_ review appeared the two young men had not met: but
the encounter, which was to be the seed of so fine a flower of
friendship, occurred before the publication of the _New Monthly_
article. Before this, however, Browning had already made one of the most
momentous acquaintanceships of his life.