Robert Browning: Selected Poems

Robert Browning

Feb 2012 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Frederick Davidson

About this audiobook

Robert Browning was a deeply religious man who wrestled to obtain and keep his Christian faith. His conviction was that life in this world is so riddled with evil and sorrow that only a future life can make sense out of it. He viewed life as a training ground which God provided in His divine love and sovereign will. Given Browning's intensely romantic love affair with Elizabeth Barrett, it is characteristic that he should view love as life's animating force and the key to its meaning. To Browning, the most dreaded fate would be to live a "ghastly smooth life, dead at heart." This view of life is projected throughout his poetry. Included in this collection are "Johannes Agricola in Meditation", "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", "Youth and Art", "Beatrice Signorini", "Spring Song", and many others.

About the author

Robert Browning (1812-1889), born in London, was a major English poet of the Victorian age. He is noted for his psychological insight into character and motivations, his colloquial English, and his perfection of the dramatic monologue form. He influenced many modern poets, partly through his development of the dramatic monologue and his use of stream of consciousness. He was married to poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.