Robert Browning was a writer.
A playwright , also known as a dramatist , is a person who writes plays . A poet is a person who writes poetry . Robert Browning ( 7 May 1812 -- 12 December 1889 ) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets . The collection Dramatis Personae and the book-length epic poem The Ring and the Book followed , and made him a leading British poet .