Audiobook · read by volunteers
Paradise Lost
John Milton (1608–1674)
Read by Owen, J A Carter, Kirsten Ferreri, Cori Samuel, Greg Bryant, Catharine Eastman, Clayton J. Smith, Rosalind Wills, Eric Ray, Onjana Yawnghwe · 20 chapters · 9 h 41
About the book
Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree: with these words John Milton begins the greatest epic in English. Paradise Lost tells the story of the rebellion of Satan, the fall of the angels, the creation of the world and the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is a poem of vast scenes, from the burning lake of Hell to the council of the devils, the war in Heaven and the quiet walks of the first couple in Paradise, and of startling psychological depth. Milton composed it after losing his sight, dictating the lines to others. Twenty recorded parts, with ten books in this first edition, take almost ten hours and are shared among ten readers. It is a magnificent and demanding work, and hearing it aloud is a way to appreciate its music.
Introduction
John Milton, who lived from 1608 to 1674, was an English poet and public servant who wrote in a time of civil war and political upheaval. He served the Commonwealth government and defended its cause in prose, and he became blind in middle age. Paradise Lost, first published in 1667, was dictated to helpers after he lost his sight, and it remains one of the most powerful English poems.
Milton saw himself as the heir of Homer, Virgil and Dante, and he set out to create a work that would stand beside theirs. Paradise Lost is the first epic of English literature written in the classical style, using blank verse, long, flexible sentences and solemn invocations. Its central theme is the fall of humanity, but its subject also includes free will, authority, obedience and rebellion. Many readers have found Satan the most compelling character, while others see the poem as a sustained argument in favour of faith. Milton wanted to represent the most basic tenets of the Protestant faith and to explain the ways of God to men.
This LibriVox recording follows the first edition of 1667, which had ten books, rather than the second edition of 1674, which was divided into twelve books in the manner of Virgil’s Aeneid. The twenty chapters are grouped by book and part, and the total listening time is nearly ten hours. Several volunteers share the reading, including Owen, J A Carter and Kirsten Ferreri. The poem takes patience, but the sound of the verse is a reward in itself. Do not worry if the first hour feels dense: the ear soon settles into the long sentences, and the poem’s great set pieces repay the effort many times over.
Public domain
John Milton died in 1674: 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