No poet in English literature excelled Robert Browning in the ability to understand the human heart and mind and soul. The tangled web of love and hate, hope and despair, faith and disbelief envelops the panorama of memorable characters in his poetry – lords, ladies, monks, alchemists, scholars, musicians, and others who crowd the colorful pages of his work. Throughout his writing there is an unbroken fortitude and an awareness of man’s capacity for greatness that provides inspiring guidance to all in a troubled time.