by Sophia Brennen

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

While Shakespeare is possibly the most celebrated, Robert Browning may be the most famous. His poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," has been inspiring people for generations.

Anyone who is a fan of Stephen King already understands the significance of this poem to the "Dark Tower series." I believe there are currently eight of them. However, what's less obvious is that many of his other books relate to this same series. Therefore, they too have been inspired, at least in part, by this poem.

Furthermore, just as Shakespeare is a standard for any British literature, Robert Browning is also standard. Not only for "Childe Roland," but for his other contributions as well.

His dealings with dark imagery and ideas has kept him in the anthologies. Many of Browning's poems can be equated with the darkness found in Poe. "My Last Duchess" is a prime example of that dark imagery. In it, the female of the story is killed and made into a gold statue.

Unfortunately, Browning is overshadowed by greats like Shakespeare and Wordsworth. He has only stepped out of their shadow due to literature classes and Stephen King.

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