both of his poet heroes concerned over the question. In _Pauline_ the
speaker confesses,

I ne'er sing
But as one entering bright halls, where all
Will rise and shout for him.

In _Sordello,_ again, Browning analyzes the desire for fame:

Souls like Sordello, on the contrary,
Coerced and put to shame, retaining will,
Care little, take mysterious comfort still,
But look forth tremblingly to ascertain
If others judge their claims not urged in vain,
And say for them their stifled thoughts aloud.
So they must ever live before a crowd:
--"Vanity," Naddo tells you.

Emerson's Saadi is one who does not despise fame,
Nor can dispense
With Persia for an audience.
[Footnote: _Saadi._]

Can it be that when the poet renounces fame, we must concur with Austin
Dobson's paraphrase of his meaning,

But most, because the grapes are sour,
Farewell, renown?
[Footnote: _Farewell Renown._]