In view of Browning's love for this form of verse, it is interesting
to remember that the first two independent short poems that he ever
wrote and retained in his works are both genuine dramatic lyrics.
These are _Porphyria's Lover_ and _Johannes Agricola_, printed in
the _Monthly Repository_ in 1836, when Browning was twenty-four
years old. Thus early did he show both aptitude for this form and
excellence in it, for each of these pieces is a work of genius. They
were meant to be studies in abnormal psychology, for they were
printed together in the _Dramatic Lyrics_ under the caption _
Madhouse Cells_. Browning was very young then, and naturally thought
a man who believed in predestination and a man who killed the woman
he loved were both insane; but after a longer experience of life,
and seeing how many strange creatures walk the streets, he ceased to
call these two men, obsessed by religion and obsessed by love, mad.
If Porphyria's lover is mad, there is method in his madness.
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