Paradise Regain'd: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Paradise Regain'd, credited to John Milton, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Paradise Regain'd, by John Milton. Read by Thomas A. Copeland. Having been publicly acknowledged as God's "beloved Son," Jesus retires to the desert to meditate upon what it means to be the Messiah, about whose coming many conflicting opinions have been circulating among the Jews. Although a learned rabbi, Jesus possesses no knowledge beyond what is available to all human beings. Satan also takes a new interest in this favored "son of God" and seeks to learn what threat he constitutes. The poem consists of a debate between these two adversaries, each seeking the same understanding of precisely what mankind's Savior will do in a world where the way to success typically lies through "wealth . . . honour . . . arms . . . arts . . . Kingdom . . . Empire . . . life contemplative, / Or active, tended on by glory, or fame." By withstanding Satan's temptation to all such worldly paths, Jesus proves himself to be a perfect, unfallen man and consequently worthy to win back paradise for mankind. Repeatedly invited to take action—either to secure his kingdom or to prove himself deserving of the divine favor that has been shown him or simply to save his life—he resists, patiently suffering, withstanding, waiting. Yet he learns from his temptation, clarifying in his own mind what his mission on earth must be and the means to achieve it. For although Satan knows no more of his mission than he does himself, Satan points the way by offering the wrong goals or the wrong motives or the wrong means. Thus the Father of Lies against his will opens the way to salvation for human kind. (Summary by Thomas Copeland)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Paradise Regain'd
• Author credits: John Milton
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 4
• Listed recording duration: 2:00:09

Catalogue topics

• epic
• dialectic
• debate
• theology
• Christianity
• New Testament

Track guide

1. 1 - Paradise Regain'd, Book 1 — 28:22
2. 2 - Paradise Regain'd, Book 2 — 27:39
3. 3 - Paradise Regain'd, Book 3 — 25:49
4. 4 - Paradise Regain'd, Book 4 — 38:19

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.