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1Sonnet 43

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

LibriVox volunteers bring you 23 different recordings of <em>Sonnet 43</em> by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of February 4th, 2007.

2Sonnets from the Portuguese

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnets from the Portuguese, written ca. 1845–1846 and first published in 1850, is a collection of forty-four love sonnets written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The poems largely chronicle the period leading up to her 1846 marriage to Robert Browning. The collection was acclaimed and popular even in the poet's lifetime and it remains so today. Elizabeth was initially hesitant to publish the poems, feeling that they were too personal. However, Robert insisted that they were the best sequence of English-language sonnets since Shakespeare's time and urged her to publish them. To offer the couple some privacy, she decided that she might publish them under a title disguising the poems as translations of foreign sonnets. Therefore, the collection was first to be known as Sonnets from the Bosnian, until Robert suggested that she change their imaginary original language to Portuguese, probably after his nickname for her: "my little Portuguese." (Summary from Wikipedia)

In writing her 'Drama of Exile', Barrett's subject was 'the new and strange experience of the fallen humanity, as it went forth from Paradise into the wilderness'. The bizarre, lyrical scenes that follow powerfully describe the grief and guilt of Eve, the sorrowful pride of Lucifer, and the redeeming power of love. (summary by Patrick Beverley, quotation from the preface)<br /><br /> <b>Cast of Characters:</b><br /> Lucifer &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1611">Patrick Beverley</a><br /> Gabriel &#8211; <a href="http://www.jaysplays.net//">Jay Saunders</a><br /> Adam &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2289">David Kleparek</a><br /> Christ &#8211; <a href="http://www.davidmuncaster.com/">David Muncaster</a><br /> Eve &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/77">JemmaBlythe</a><br /> Narrator, Revel Voices, Aged Voices &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3664">Barry Eads</a><br /> Chorus of Eden Spirits, Earth Spirits &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/4064">Margaret Espaillat</a><br /> Spirits of Trees &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1700">Andrea Lee</a><br /> River Spirits, Second Spirit &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3994">Miriam Esther Goldman</a><br /> Bird Spirits &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1134">vanrose</a><br /> Flower Spirits &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2032">Chrystal Layton</a><br /> Angel Chorus, First Semichorus, Second Semichorus, Morning Star, Youthful Voices &#8211; <a href="http://neeruscribbles.blogspot.com/">Neeru Iyer</a><br /> First Spirit, Love Voices &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3243">Rissa Byrne</a><br /> Infant Voices &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1803">Mia Saunders</a><br /> Poet Voices &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2110">Aaron Elliott</a><br /> Philosophic Voices &#8211; <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2986">Simon Larois</a><br /><br /> Audio edited by <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2911">Barry Eads</a>

4Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett (Incomplete Set)

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning

"In considering the question of publishing these letters, which are all that ever passed between my father and mother, for after their marriage they were never separated, it seemed to me that my only alternatives were to allow them to be published or to destroy them. I might, indeed, have left the matter to the decision of others after my death, but that would be evading a responsibility which I feel that I ought to accept.<br><br> "Ever since my mother's death these letters were kept by my father in a certain inlaid box, into which they exactly fitted, and where they have always rested, letter beside letter, each in its consecutive order and numbered on the envelope by his own hand.<br><br> "My father destroyed all the rest of his correspondence, and not long before his death he said, referring to these letters: 'There they are, do with them as you please when I am dead and gone!'" (Summary by icyjumbo, excerpted from the Preface of the book.)<br><br> This project is incomplete because, tragically, icyjumbo passed away during its production. Rather than recruiting a new reader, we are offering the files that were completed.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 8 recordings of <em>Home Thoughts from Abroad</em> by Robert Browning. This was the weekly poetry project for March 29th, 2009.

Pippa Passes was a dramatic piece, as much play as poetry, by Robert Browning published in 1841 as the first volume of his Bells and Pomegranates series.<br><br> The author described the work as the first of a series of dramatic pieces. His original idea was of a young, innocent girl, moving unblemished through the crime-ridden neighbourhoods of Asolo. The work caused outrage when it was first published, due to the matter-of-fact portrayals of many of the area's more disreputable characters – notably the adulterous Ottima – and for its frankness on sexual matters. Perhaps the most famous passage is below:<br><br>The year's at the spring,<br> And day's at the morn;<br> Morning's at seven;<br> The hill-side's dew-pearled;<br> The lark's on the wing;<br> The snail's on the thorn;<br> God's in his Heaven - <br> All's right with the world! (Summary by Wikipedia)<br><br> <strong>Characters:</strong><br><br> Pippa — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2297">Philippa</a><br> Narrator/Stage Directions — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2911">David Lawrence</a><br> 1st 3rd & 5th Student — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2234">Lars Rolander</a><br> 3rd & 4th Girl — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1134">vanrose</a><br> Gottlieb, 1st and 3rd Police — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4515">Doug</a><br> Jules, 2nd Police & Monsignor — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1085">heyfd</a><br> Luigi — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1492">mb</a><br> Luigi’s Mother — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3943">Silence</a><br> Ottima, 2nd Girl — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3157">TriciaG</a><br> Phene, 1st Girl — <a href="http://neeruscribbles.blogspot.com/">Neeru Iyer</a><br> Sebald, Schramm, Bluphocks, Intendant, 2nd, 4th & 6th Student — <a href="http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3664">Barry Eads</a><br><br> All tunes used are original and placed in the public domain by the readers.

7Best Thing in the World

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 recordings of <i>The Best Thing in the World</i> by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 28th, 2010.

8Sonnets from the Portuguese (version 2)

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnets from the Portuguese chronicles one of the most famous romances in history. The renowned Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett wrote the sonnet sequence during her courtship by Robert Browning, and later presented them to him as a wedding gift. Robert was astounded by the quality of the poetry, and encouraged her to publish, but Elizabeth objected on the grounds that the content was too personal. At last, Robert prevailed, and Elizabeth published her sonnets. The title of the book comes from a joke between Robert and Elizabeth Browning. Elizabeth was too embarrassed to publish the sonnets as a personal chronicle, so she decided to pretend they were a translation from a foreign language. Robert’s nickname for her was “My Little Portuguese” due to her dark hair and olive complexion, and so the sequence was forever known as “Sonnets from the Portugese.” <br/>(Summary by Kirsten Ferreri)

<i>The Battle of Marathon</i> is a rhymed, dramatic, narrative-poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Written in 1820, it retells powerfully The Battle of Marathon: during which the Athenian state defeated the much larger invading force during the first Persian invasion of Greece. (Summary from Wikipedia)

For this collection, LibriVox volunteers made their own selections from Robert Browning's poetry and prose to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth on 7th May 1812.

11Ring and the Book

By Robert Browning

"Better translate--"A Roman murder-case:<br> "Position of the entire criminal cause<br> "Of Guido Franceschini, nobleman,<br> "With certain Four the cutthroats in his pay,<br> "Tried, all five, and found guilty and put to death<br> "By heading or hanging as befitted ranks,<br> "At Rome on February Twenty-Two,<br> "Since our salvation Sixteen Ninety Eight:<br> "Wherein it is disputed if, and when,<br> "Husbands may kill adulterous wives, yet 'scape<br> 'The customary forfeit.'" <br> (Excerpt from first chapter of The Ring and the Book.)<br /><br /> Note from reader: The main text I have read from follows the first edition; but there are some words or lines that do not make sense, either through copying mistakes or because they are difficult if not impossible to make sense of in the first edition. In such cases, I have relied upon an alternate text, found at archive.org and also in the public domain, that contains the wording of the later editions. --Tony Oliva

Robert Browning is still well-known today as a distinguished English poet. His poetry is still widely read, recited, and taught in schools. In this little volume, Rose Porter has compiled a collection of his poems concerning Easter. - Summary by Carolin

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. - Summary by Wikipedia

14My Last Duchess

By Robert Browning

NOTES: "My Last Duchess" puts in the mouth of a Duke of Ferrara, a typical husband and art patron of the Renaissance, a description of his last wife, whose happy nature and universal kindliness were a perpetual affront to his exacting self-predominance, and whose suppression, by his command, has made the vacancy he is now, in his interview with the envoy for a new match, taking precaution to fill more acceptably. (Dramatic Romances by Robert Browning)

15Wall

By Robert Browning

Browning, when at his best in vigor, clearness, and beauty, is peculiarly a poet for young people. His freedom from sentimentality, his liveliness of conception and narration, his high optimism, and his interest in the things that make for the life of the soul, appeal to the imagination and the feelings of youth. - TEACHERS' COLLEGE, NEW YORK, July, 1899. (from the Preface to Browning's Shorter Poems)

<i>Sonnets from the Portuguese</i> chronicles the deeply personal stages of courtship. (Summary by Newgatenovelist)

17Wanting is - What?

By Robert Browning

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. His poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings, and challenging vocabulary and syntax. When Browning died in 1889, he was regarded as a sage and philosopher-poet who through his writing had made contributions to Victorian social and political discourse. Unusually for a poet, societies for the study of his work were founded while he was still alive. Such Browning Societies remained common in Britain and the United States until the early 20th century. ( Wikipedia )

This is the first part of a collection of poetry written by female poets. This part of From Queen's Gardens is a collection of 30 poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. - Summary by Carolin

This Weekly Poem is taken from The Queens' Garden - Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and others. - Summary by David Lawrence

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Elizabeth Barrett wrote poetry from about the age of six. Her mother's collection of her poems forms one of the largest extant collections of juvenilia by any English writer. At 15 she became ill, suffering intense head and spinal pain for the rest of her life. Later in life she also developed lung problems, possibly tuberculosis. She took laudanum for the pain from an early age, which is likely to have contributed to her frail health. (Wikipedia)

The High Middle Ages in Italy, 1250-1409, were a time of incessant strife between rival city-states, some the Ghibelline allies of the Holy Roman Empire, others joining forces with the Guelph armies of the Papacy. Mercenary captains led hired bands of soldiers of fortune. These captains sometimes became great despots, ruling the very cities that had engaged them. Florence began her ascent. The terrible Visconti dominated Milan, and Genoa established a vast trading empire, only to suffer defeat and decline when her fleet was destroyed by Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic. (Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of Love by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for December 30, 2019. <br> ------<br> Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Elizabeth's volume Poems (1844) brought her great success, attracting the admiration of the writer Robert Browning. Their correspondence, courtship and marriage were carried out in secret, for fear of her father's disapproval. ( Wikipedia )

Italy from 1409 to 1530 is synonymous with the Renaissance, but this was also the age of the condottieri, Italian captains of mercenary companies and multinational armies who fought in the service of city states, monarchs, and the Pope. Some like Ludovico Sforza in Milan seized power and founded dynasties in their own right. The merchant princes of the Medici family reached their apogee in Lorenzo the Magnificent in Florence, but faltered in the Papacy; Leo X proved no match for Martin Luther and Clement VII was powerless to avert the sack of Rome in 1527. Venice lost her overseas empire to the Turks, while proud King Francis I, defeated by the Emperor Charles and a prisoner in Madrid, was eventually forced to relinquish all hope of Italian conquest. (Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of A Musical Instrument by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.<br> This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for October 25, 2020. <br> ------<br> Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Elizabeth's volume Poems (1844) brought her great success, attracting the admiration of the writer Robert Browning. Their correspondence, courtship, and marriage were carried out in secret, for fear of her father's disapproval. - Summary by Wikipedia

This short survey opens with the accession of that portly spendthrift, King George IV. With British support, Greece becomes independent. The Irish, under O'Connell, carry agitation to the point of rebellion, forcing Parliament to pass the Catholic Emancipation Act. After a painful labor of over a year, the First Reform Bill is enacted in 1832. Queen Victoria comes to the throne in 1837. Faced with an Irish famine, Sir Robert Peel, repeals the Corn Laws. There is a Great Exhibition, a war in the Crimea, and a rebellion in India. Gladstone and Disraeli battle on the floor of the House of Commons, while British imperialism advances in South Africa and in Egypt. - Summary by Pamela Nagami

Elizabeth Barrett Browning schrieb diese Sonette für ihren Mann. Dieser gab sie dann zur Veröffentlichung. In seiner Übersetzung hält Rainer Maria Rilke lediglich die Sonettform ein. An vielen Stellen verändert er das Reimschema, wodurch eine neue Sprachmelodie entsteht.<br> Andere Übersetzungen:<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/portugiesische-sonette-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/">von Hans Böhm</a><br> <a href="https://librivox.org/sonette-nach-dem-portugiesischen-uebersetzt-von-marie-gothein-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/">von Marie Gothein</a><br>Summary by lorda

27Portugiesische Sonette, übertragen durch Hans Böhm

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Die Gedichte sind mehrfach ins Deutsche übertragen worden, stets in Sonettform. Aber ist es möglich, diese Form beizubehalten, ohne allzuviel des Inhaltes darüber zu verlieren? Schon die Zeilenzahl macht Schwierigkeiten: nur selten lassen sich, bei dem bekannten Verhältnis beider Sprachen, 14 englische Zeilen in 14 deutsche pressen; ein Teil wird überschießen und weggeworfen werden müssen, – wenn man nicht zu einer freien Wiedergabe greifen will. Aber nicht nur kann die Sonettform nicht verwandt werden, sie darf es nicht einmal, wollen wir dem Charakter dieser Poesie gerecht sein. Als Elizabeth Anfang des Jahres 1847 die Gedichte ihrem Gatten gab, nannte dieser sie die schönsten Sonette, die seit Shakespeare geschrieben worden.<br> Andere Übersetzungen:<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/sonette-nach-dem-portugiesischen-uebertragen-durch-rainer-maria-rilke-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/">von Rainer Maria Rilke</a><br> <a href="https://librivox.org/sonette-nach-dem-portugiesischen-uebersetzt-von-marie-gothein-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/">von Marie Gothein</a><br> (Auszüge aus dem Vorwort – zusammengefasst von lorda)

Part 1 of the extensive collection of all the letters which passed between Robert Browning (1812-1889) and Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett (1806-1861) in the years 1845 and 1846, which marked the beginning of their acquaintance and formation of their romantic relationship. The nearly daily exchange of letters during this period gives a minute insight into the private and public life of these two authors, as well as into their work and how they influenced each other in their writings.<br> Part 1: January to December 1845. - Summary by Sonia

Als Elizabeth Barrett Browning Anfang des Jahres 1847 die Gedichte ihrem Gatten gab, nannte dieser sie die schönsten Sonette, die seit Shakespeare geschrieben wurden. Als Ganzes gehört dies Werk von Englands größter Dichterin zu den Perlen der zeitgenössischen Lyrik. Marie Gothein beachtete in ihrer Übersetzung sowohl die Sonettform als auch das Reimschema der Originale.<br> (Zusammenfassung von lorda)<br> Andere Übersetzungen:<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/sonette-nach-dem-portugiesischen-uebertragen-durch-rainer-maria-rilke-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/">von Rainer Maria Rilke</a><br> <a href="https://librivox.org/portugiesische-sonette-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/">von Hans Böhm</a>

30White Witchcraft

By Robert Browning

LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of White Witchcraft by Robert Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 16, 2022. <br> ------<br> Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humor, social commentary, historical settings, and challenging vocabulary and syntax. - Summary by Wikipedia

Part 2 of the extensive collection of all the letters which passed between Robert Browning (1812-1889) and Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett (1806-1861) in the years 1845 and 1846, which marked the beginning of their acquaintance and formation of their romantic relationship. The nearly daily exchange of letters during this period gives a minute insight into the private and public life of these two authors, as well as into their work and how they influenced each other in their writings.<br> Part 2: January to May 1846. - Summary by Sonia

Part 3 of the extensive collection of all the letters which passed between Robert Browning (1812-1889) and Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett (1806-1861) in the years 1845 and 1846, which marked the beginning of their acquaintance and formation of their romantic relationship. The nearly daily exchange of letters during this period gives a minute insight into the private and public life of these two authors, as well as into their work and how they influenced each other in their writings. Part 3: June to September 1846. - Summary by Sonia

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a pre-eminent poet of the Victorian period in the United Kingdom. This selection of poems includes some of her verses on love, politics, dogs, faith and the poet’s art. Sonnets from the Portuguese recorded by the same reader may be found at: https://librivox.org/sonnets-from-the-portuguese-version-3-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/ - Summary by Newgatenovelist

34Among The Rocks

By Robert Browning

LibriVox volunteers bring you 8 recordings of Among The Rocks by Robert Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 12, 2024. <br> ------<br> By his death in 1889 he was seen as a sage and philosopher-poet who had fed into Victorian social and political discourse. Societies for studying his work survived in Britain and the US into the 20th century. - Summary by Wikipedia

The title poem was inspired by various images which Browning saw while living in Italy, an old tower in the Carrara Mountains, a painting in Paris and a horse on a tapestry in his home near Florence. These called to his mind the line from Shakespeare's King Lear spoken by Edgar in his feigned madness "Childe Roland to the dark tower came". The poem, full of surreal imagery, evokes the worlds of the 11th century epic poem "The Song of Roland" and of the Arthurian Legends with their notion of the "quest", a journey undertaken by a Knight into unknown hostile territory in search of a mysterious goal. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning shared one of the great literary and romantic marriages of the 19th century, eloping to Italy to escape the objections of her family. Although they both wrote poetry throughout their married life, this collection was selected and edited after the death of both writers and there is no evidence that they themselves ever intended these poems to be a single collection. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Sonnets From The Portuguese - XX by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 23, 2025. <br> ------<br> Sonnets from the Portuguese was first published in 1850. There is debate about the origin of the title. Some say it refers to the series of sonnets of the 16th-century Portuguese poet Luís de Camões. However, "my little Portuguese" was a pet name that Robert Browning, her husband had adopted for Elizabeth and this may have some connection. - Summary by Wikipedia

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Grief by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project forJUne 15, 2025. <br> ------<br> Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Elizabeth Barrett wrote poetry from the age of eleven. Her mother's collection of her poems forms one of the largest extant collections of juvenilia by any English writer. - Summary by Wikipedia

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of The Poet And The Bird by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 17, 2025. <br> ------<br> Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. - Summary by Wikipedia

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of The Poet And The Bird by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 17, 2025. <br> ------<br> Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. - Summary by Wikipedia