He thought of a diplomatic career, and felt some regret when he failed to obtain an appointment for which he had applied in connection with a mission to Persia.
In the winter of 1834 Browning was at work on _Paracelsus_, which, after disappointments with other houses, was accepted, on terms that secured the publisher from risk, by Effingham Wilson, and appeared before midsummer of the following year.

The subject had been suggested by Count Amedee de Ripert-Monclar, a young French royalist, engaged in secret service on behalf of the dethroned Bourbons.

To him the poem is dedicated.

For a befitting treatment of the story of Paracelsus special studies were necessary, and Browning entered into these with zeal, taking in his poem--as he himself believed--only trifling liberties with the matter of history.

In solitary midnight walks he meditated his theme and its development.