Audiobook · read by volunteers
First Snow-Fall
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
Read by Caitlin Teresa, Carolyn Frances, Clarica, Esther, Jc Guan, Katie Gibboney, Lee Ann Howlett, Peter Yearsley, Sean McGaughey · 9 chapters · 19 min
About the book
Few moments in a year change the look of the world as quickly as the first fall of snow. In this poem by James Russell Lowell, a father watches flakes settle on the roofs, the fields and the pine trees, and the quiet that follows turns his thoughts toward a loss he cannot forget. The poem moves from the simple beauty of a winter morning to something much more tender and personal, and it does so in a handful of short, carefully measured stanzas. Here, nine different volunteers each give the poem their own voice, pace and mood. Hearing the same lines again and again is a pleasure of its own: you notice a pause here, a softened word there, and the poem opens up a little more with each reading. It makes a perfect companion for a winter evening.
Introduction
James Russell Lowell was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1819 and died in 1891. He was one of the best known American poets of the nineteenth century, and he was also an editor, a critic, a professor at Harvard and, later in life, a diplomat. He belonged to the circle of New England writers that included Longfellow and Holmes, and his verse often mixes public concerns with quiet domestic feeling.
The First Snow-Fall is among his gentlest and most widely anthologised poems. It is a short piece, built on the contrast between the calm beauty of snow and the grief of the speaker. The poem grew out of the death of Lowell’s infant daughter Blanche, and that private grief is its quiet centre. Readers have long valued it for its restraint: it never raises its voice, yet it leaves a lasting impression.
This collection brings together nine recordings of the same poem, made by LibriVox volunteers as a weekly poetry project. The total running time is only about twenty minutes, which makes it easy to listen to all nine in one sitting. Hearing them side by side shows how much a reader’s choices matter in poetry, where tempo, breath and tone can change what a line seems to say.
If you are new to poetry, this is an ideal place to begin. There is no need for background knowledge, and the nine readings are short enough that no single one can wear out its welcome. Listen once for the story, then again for the sound, and let the quiet of the poem settle over you.
Public domain
James Russell Lowell died in 1891: 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