A Drama of Exile

Written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Narrated by LibriVox Community

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)

Cast of Characters:

Lucifer – Patrick Beverley
Gabriel – Jay Saunders
Adam – David Kleparek
Christ – David Muncaster
Eve – JemmaBlythe
Narrator, Revel Voices, Aged Voices – Barry Eads
Chorus of Eden Spirits, Earth Spirits – Margaret Espaillat
Spirits of Trees – Andrea Lee
River Spirits, Second Spirit – Miriam Esther Goldman
Bird Spirits – vanrose
Flower Spirits – Chrystal Layton
Angel Chorus, First Semichorus, Second Semichorus, Morning Star, Youthful Voices – Neeru Iyer
First Spirit, Love Voices – Rissa Byrne
Infant Voices – Mia Saunders
Poet Voices – Aaron Elliott
Philosophic Voices – Simon Larois

Audio edited by Barry Eads

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was an English poet. The daughter of a wealthy family—her father made his fortune as a slave owner in Jamaica, while her mother’s family owned and operated sugar plantations, mills, and ships—Browning eventually became an abolitionist and advocate for child labor laws. Her marriage to the prominent Victorian poet Robert Browning caused the final break between Browning and her family, after which she moved to Italy and lived there with Robert for the rest of her life. She began writing poems at a young age, finding success with the 1844 publication of Poems. Browning went on to be recognized as one of the foremost poets of early Victorian England, influencing such writers as Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson. She is most famous for her Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of 44 love poems published in 1850, and Aurora Leigh, an 1856 epic poem described by leading Victorian critic John Ruskin as the greatest long poem written in the nineteenth century. Browning suffered from numerous illnesses throughout her life, eventually succumbing in Florence at the age of 55.