Narrative Verse, Volume 3

I’ll admit, I approached this expecting the usual Victorian piety—roses, doves, maybe a chaste maiden or two. Instead, Rossetti’s narrative verse hit me like a folk horror ballad. Take *“The Prince’s Progress”*: on the page, it’s a fairy-tale allegory, but in Barrett’s hands, the prince’s journey feels like a slow unraveling, his voice dipping into sarcasm at just the right moments. Shaw-Parker, meanwhile, turns *“The Convent Threshold”* into something almost sinister, his pacing deliberate, as if he’s daring you to question the narrator’s devotion. The contrast between the two narrators isn’t just stylistic; it *mirrors* the tension in Rossetti’s work—faith vs. doubt, beauty vs. decay. That said, the production isn’t flawless. The abrupt shifts between narrators can jolt you out of the mood, especially in shorter pieces where the tone doesn’t have room to settle. And while the audio quality is crisp, the lack of musical accompaniment (even subtle) feels like a missed opportunity—these poems *beg* for a harpsichord’s creep or a choir’s hum. Still, the raw power of the performances wins out. If you’ve ever found poetry audiobooks too sleepy or self-serious, this one’s for you. It’s short, sharp, and leaves you with the uneasy feeling that Rossetti’s smiling at you from the shadows, knowing exactly which lines will linger.