An American public man who one day fell in public esteem as far as
Lucifer, said that it had taken him fifty years to build up a great
reputation, and that he had lost it all in one forenoon. The dying
courtier in _Paracelsus_ had such a moment.
Finally, in _Cristina_, we find that ardent belief in a future life
that lifts its head so often and so resolutely in Browning's poetry,
and on which, as we shall see later, his optimism is founded. Science
tells us that the matter of which the universe is composed is
indestructible; Browning believes even more strongly in the
permanence of spirit. Aspiration, enthusiasm, love would not be
given to us to have their purposes broken off, not if this is a
rational and economic universe; the important thing is not to have
our hopes fulfilled here, the important thing is to keep hoping.
Such love as the man had for Cristina must eventually find its full
satisfaction so long as it remains the guiding principle of his life,
which will serve as a test of his tenacity.
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