Audiobook · read by volunteers
À Drama of Exile
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
Read by Barry Eads, JemmaBlythe, vanrose, Patrick Beverley, Andrea Lee, Jay Saunders, Mia Saunders, David Muncaster, Chrystal Layton, Aaron Elliott · 5 chapters · 1 h 44
About the book
When Adam and Eve are driven from Paradise, what do they say to each other, and what is said to them? Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Drama of Exile imagines the scene in lyrical, dramatic verse. Her subject, as she described it, was the new and strange experience of fallen humanity as it went forth from Paradise into the wilderness. The bizarre and beautiful scenes that follow give voice to Eve’s grief and guilt, to the sorrowful pride of Lucifer, and to the promise of redemption. This is a poem of angels, spirits and the first human beings, written with ambition and a sense of awe. Five recordings, about an hour and three quarters, for those who enjoy poetry on a grand scale.
Introduction
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was one of the most celebrated English poets of the nineteenth century. Her Drama of Exile, published in 1844, is a long poem in dramatic form. It takes as its theme the moment after the Fall, when Adam and Eve leave the garden, and it gives voice to them as well as to Lucifer, to angels and to spirits of nature.
The work belongs to the tradition of religious epic poetry in English that includes Milton’s Paradise Lost, which she clearly had in mind. She was thinking about the new and strange experience of fallen humanity, and she treats it in lyrical scenes, some of them quite odd and unusual, in which the characters express grief, pride and hope. Eve is given a central role, and her sorrow and her sense of guilt are drawn with sympathy.
The poem is demanding, but listening can help, since its music is easier to follow in the ear than on the page. Poetry in the dramatic form is a good match for the voice, as the different speakers can be distinguished.
The recording, by LibriVox volunteers, has five files, starting with the list of characters, followed by the scenes, and lasts about an hour and three quarters. It is a good choice for those who love Victorian poetry, for readers of Milton, and for anyone curious about the work of a major woman poet.
Public domain
Elizabeth Barrett Browning died in 1861: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text