Audiobook · read by volunteers
Work without Hope
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg, Betsie Bush, Christina Zhu, JemmaBlythe, Kristin Hughes (1974-2021), Michael Sirois, Robin Cotter, Sean McKinley, William Graff · 9 chapters · 12 min
About the book
“Work without Hope” is a short, bitter-sweet poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which spring returns to the countryside while the speaker stands apart, unable to join in the general bustle of things. Nine volunteers recorded it for Labor Day, and here are all nine readings, one after another. The lines are compact and lovely, full of bees, flowers and slugs and a heart that feels tired, and the effect depends enormously on how the voice handles its changes of mood. Listen to several readers in turn and you will hear the poem become wistful, sardonic, resigned or oddly warm. It takes only a few minutes to hear any single version, so the set makes a gentle, rewarding quarter of an hour for anyone who likes to compare interpretations or who simply wants a little poetry with their coffee. A fine, short introduction to one of the great Romantic voices.
Introduction
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who lived from 1772 to 1834, was an English poet, critic and philosopher, and one of the founders of the Romantic movement in Britain. With his friend William Wordsworth he produced Lyrical Ballads, a collection that changed the course of English verse, and his long poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner remains among the most famous in the language.
Work without Hope is a very different kind of piece: a short sonnet-like poem, written in 1825, in a later period of his life. It sets the revival of nature in early spring against the poet’s own sense of exhaustion. Everything around him is busy and fruitful, while he feels cut off from purpose. The title states its bleak idea plainly, and the poem gives that idea a vivid image of futility.
The recordings in this collection were made by LibriVox volunteers for their weekly poetry project, which invites readers to record the same short text. This particular week’s choice was made in honour of Labor Day, the American holiday celebrating workers, and the project took place in early September 2006. Nine volunteers took part, among them Annie Coleman Rothenberg, Betsie Bush and Christina Zhu.
The nine versions together last roughly a quarter of an hour. They are best enjoyed in small groups, so that you can compare how pace, pauses and emphasis change the sense of the lines. Poetry lovers will find it a pleasant exercise to decide which reader brings out the irony most clearly, and which one best brings out its weary irony.
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