Audiobook · read by volunteers
Frost at Midnight
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
Read by Alan Davis Drake (1945-2010), Caitlin Teresa, icyjumbo (1964-2010), Clarica, Jc Guan, Merrill, Peter Yearsley, Rhonda Federman · 8 chapters · 40 min
About the book
It is the middle of the night, and a father sits beside the fire, listening to the silence of the house. Outside, the frost works quietly. His baby son sleeps in a cradle at his side. In Frost at Midnight, Samuel Taylor Coleridge lets the thoughts of the speaker wander from the flickering flame to memories of his childhood, and then to hopes for the life of his child. The poem is peaceful, intimate and full of delicate observation of the sleeping house. Eight volunteers have recorded it here, each bringing a different pace and warmth to the lines. Listening to them one after another is like returning to the same quiet room and finding it a little changed each time. A gentle poem for a quiet hour, heard here in many voices.
Introduction
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born in 1772 and died in 1834, was an English poet, critic and philosopher, and one of the founders of the Romantic movement. Together with William Wordsworth he published Lyrical Ballads in 1798, a collection that is often seen as a turning point in English poetry. His own poems include The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as the more intimate pieces known as conversation poems.
Frost at Midnight, written in 1798, is one of those conversation poems. It is written in a flowing, relaxed blank verse that sounds like a thoughtful voice speaking quietly, and it combines careful descriptions of nature with personal reflection. The poet remembers his lonely childhood in a London school and hopes that his son will grow up amid lakes, mountains and clouds, learning from nature itself. The poem has been admired for its sense of calm and its gentle, tender close.
This collection is part of a weekly poetry project at LibriVox. Volunteers record the same poem, which allows listeners to compare how each of them shapes the music of the verse. Here you will find eight readings, with a total running time of about forty minutes. Because the poem is so rich, repeated listening is a real pleasure, and it is a fine way to approach Coleridge for the first time.
The poem’s quiet pace makes it a good choice for the end of the day. It does not demand much, but it offers a feeling of calm, of attention to small sounds and sights, and of care for the future. Coleridge’s lines have been loved for more than two centuries, and the variety of readers here shows why.
Public domain
Samuel Taylor Coleridge died in 1834: 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