To Edward Fitzgerald

In the Athenæum of July 13th, 1889, appeared this sonnet:— “ To Edward Fitzgerald . “I chanced upon a new book yesterday; I opened it, and, where my finger lay ’Twixt page and uncut page, these words I read— Some six or seven at most—and learned thereby That you, Fitzgerald, whom by ear and eye She never knew, ‘thanked God my wife was dead.’ Ay, dead! and were yourself alive, good Fitz, How to return you thanks would task my wits. Kicking you seems the common lot of curs— While more appropriate greeting lends you grace, Surely to spit there glorifies your face— Spitting from lips once sanctified by hers. “ Robert Browning. “ July 8th, 1889. ” The pa age referred to is as follows: “Mrs. Browning’s death is rather a relief to me, I must say: no more Aurora Leighs, thank God! A woman of real genius, I know; but what is the upshot of it all! She and her sex had better mind the kitchen and the children; and perhaps the poor. Except in such things as little novels, they only devote themselves to what men do much better, leaving that which men do worse or not at all.” ( Life and Letters of Edward Fitzgerald . Edited by Aldis Wright.)— Browning Society Papers , Notes, 229.