Author(s): Milton, John
Label: Naxos AudioBooks
Genre: Poetry
Period: Baroque
Catalogue No: NA888512
Barcode: 9789626348857
Release Date: 08/2008

MILTON, J.: Essential John Milton (The)

This thoughtful collection of John Milton’s finest poetry marks the quarter centenary of the poet’s birth in 1608. It is read by several of Britain’s foremost classical actors, including Anton Lesser, Samantha Bond and Derek Jacobi. Milton’s uncompromising views set him firmly on the side of Cromwell, putting his life in danger when the Stuart monarchy was restored. But he is now remembered for Paradise Lost and a strong collection of other poetry which influenced successive generations. This collection offers an ideal overview, including excerpts from Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained in its entirety, excerpts from other major works, including Comus and Samson Agonistes, as well as sonnets and famous shorter poems such as On his blindness, plus a biography of Milton.

Tracklist

Disc 1
Milton, John - Author
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
1PARADISE LOST Book I Line 1: Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit07:52
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2Line 128: O Prince, O chief of many throned Powers04:47
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3Line 242: Is this the region, this the soil, the clime06:38
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4Line 522: All these and more came flocking; but with looks05:31
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5Line 622: O myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers05:35
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6Line 722: …Th' ascending pile04:20
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7Book II Line 1: High on a throne of royal state, which far07:31
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8Line 119: I should be much for open war, O Peers06:45
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9Line 229: Either to disenthrone the King of Heav'n04:43
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10Line 310: Thrones and imperial Powers, offspring of Heav'n05:18
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11Line 390: Well have ye judged, well ended long debate02:39
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12Line 430: O progeny of Heav'n, empyreal Thrones03:02
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
13Line 506: The Stygian Council thus dissolved; and forth05:51
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
14Line 704: So spake the grisly terror, and in shape08:40
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 2
1Line 850: The key of this infernal pit by due07:00
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2Line 968: T' whom Satan turning boldly thus. Ye Powers05:04
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3Book III Paraphrase: God sitting on his throne sees Satan…01:54
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4Book IV Line 1: O for that warning voice, which he who saw07:24
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5Line 114: Thus while he spake, each passion dimmed his face03:18
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6Line 172: Now to th' ascent of that steep savage hill03:35
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7Line 246: …thus was this place06:20
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8Line 358: O Hell! What do mine eyes with grief behold05:29
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9Line 440: To whom thus Eve replied. O thou for whom03:16
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10Line 492: So spake our general mother, and with eyes03:09
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11Books V–VIII Paraphrase: Meanwhile, Uriel, descending02:16
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12Book IX Line 1: No more of talk where God or angel guest05:33
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
13Line 99: O earth, how like to Heav'n, if not preferr'd06:57
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
14Line 204: And Eve first to her husband thus began.03:48
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
15Line 270: To whom the virgin majesty of Eve05:27
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
16Line 376: So spake the patriarch of mankind, but Eve07:07
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 3
1Line 494: So spake the Enemy of mankind, enclosed04:13
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2Line 567: To whom the guileful Tempter thus replied.02:37
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3Line 613: So talked the spirited sly snake; and Eve03:39
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4Line 679: O sacred, wise and wisdom-giving plant04:13
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5Line 745: Great are thy virtues, doubtless, best of fruits06:56
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6Line 856: Hast thou not wondered Adam, at my stay?02:35
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7Line 896: O fairest of Creation, last and best04:42
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8Line 960: So Adam, and thus Eve to him replied.04:43
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9Line 1034: So said he, and forbore not glance or toy06:18
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10Line 1134: Would thou hadst hearkened to my words, and stayed03:15
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11Book X Paraphrase: Man's disobedience known00:38
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12Line 68: Father Eternal, thine is to decree09:07
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
13Line 229: Meanwhile ere thus was sinned and judged on earth04:58
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
14Line 354: O parent, these are thy magnific deeds03:56
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
15Line 460: Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers07:19
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
16Books XI and XII Paraphrase: Meanwhile Sin and Death rejoice01:52
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
17Book XII Line 553: How soon hath thy prediction, seer blest07:53
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 4
1Paradise Regained – Book I03:48
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2Oh ancient powers of Air and this wide World04:31
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3So to the coast of Jordan he directs03:54
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4Meanwhile the Son of God, who yet some days04:36
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5This having heard, straight I again revolved02:52
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6Full forty days he passed – whether on hill03:54
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7Whom thus answered the Arch-Fiend, now undisguised:03:10
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8To whom our Saviour sternly thus replied:03:41
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9So spake our Saviour; but the subtle Fiend,03:32
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10Book II03:30
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11Thus they out of their plaints new hope resume03:18
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12The while her Son, tracing the desert wild,03:51
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
13To whom quick answer Satan thus returned:03:38
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
14He ceased, and heard their grant in loud acclaim;03:46
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
15He viewed it round;04:34
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
16'What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat?'04:18
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
17To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:04:05
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 5
1Book III03:14
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2To whom our Saviour calmly thus replied04:10
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3To whom the Tempter, murmuring, thus replied04:36
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4To whom our Saviour answer thus returned04:15
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5With that (such power was given him then), he took03:43
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6He looked, and saw what numbers numberless04:26
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7To whom our Saviour answered thus, unmoved04:19
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8Book IV02:37
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9And now the Tempter thus his silence broke04:10
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10To whom the Son of God, unmoved, replied03:42
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11Whom thus our Saviour answered with disdain04:08
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12Look once more, ere we leave this specular mount02:55
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
13To whom our Saviour sagely thus replied03:04
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
14Or, if I would delight my private hours03:50
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
15So saying, he took (for still he knew his power Not yet expired)03:30
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
16Him walking on a sunny hill he found03:15
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
17To whom the Fiend, now swoln with rage, replied03:46
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
18But Satan, smitten with amazement, fell02:07
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
19'True Image of the Father, whether throned…'05:13
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 6
1At a Vacation Exercise06:46
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2L'Allegro07:19
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3Il Penseroso05:21
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4Or let my lamp, at midnight hour…05:06
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5At a Solemn Musick01:55
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6To Mr. H Lawes, on his Aires01:05
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7On Time01:17
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8On Shakespeare01:05
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9On the morning of Christ's Nativity05:49
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10Yea Truth, and Justice then…03:31
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11Sonnet: To the Lord General Cromwell01:13
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12Sonnet: On the detraction which followed…01:07
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
13Sonnet: On the Late Massacre in Piedmont00:55
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
14Lycidas06:25
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
15cont. It was that fatal and perfidious bark…06:47
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
16Sonnet: To the Nightingale00:56
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
17Sonnet: On my 23rd Birthday01:38
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
18from Paradise Lost – opening of Book I01:48
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
19from Paradise Lost – Book 1 – The fall of Mulciber01:31
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
20from Paradise Lost – opening of Book II01:52
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
21from Paradise Lost – from Book XII01:30
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
22from Paradise Regained01:39
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
23Sonnet: Upon a Deceased Wife01:13
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
24Sonnet: On his Blindness01:11
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
25Sonnet: to Cyriack Skinner01:12
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
26from Samson Agonistes02:05
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
27The destruction of the Temple from Samson Agonistes02:11
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
28The Final Chorus from Samson Agonistes00:48
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
29from Comus, a Masque03:55
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 7
1Introduction to Areopagitica00:49
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2from Areopagitica06:58
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3Next, what more national corruption…06:35
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4What advantage is it to be a man…06:13
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5And now the time in special…05:48
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6Introduction to The Doctrine and Discipline00:41
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7from The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce05:36
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8How vain therefore is it….06:49
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9I suppose it will be allow'd us…07:27
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10Introduction to The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates00:32
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
11from The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates07:19
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
12Since the king or magistrate…05:40
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
Disc 8
1John Milton: A Life07:59
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
2John Milton was a republican and a Protestant.07:03
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
3In the end, his time at Cambridge…07:16
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
4The poem, a pastoral elegy…06:58
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
5Speculation surrounds almost every facet…07:41
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
6In 1644 he wrote what is still probably…07:01
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
7Milton stayed in his role…08:08
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
8This was a dangerous thing to be doing…07:14
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
9The poem is a dark and dramatic one.07:20
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)
10He was still working, though.06:47
Jacobi, Derek (Reader)
Bond, Samantha (Reader)
Lesser, Anton (Reader)

Total Playing Time: 09:44:45