COMPLETE: Weekly Poetry: Sonnet 130, by Shakespeare - PO/ll

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
Fox in the Stars
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Post by Fox in the Stars »

All recordings can now be found on our catalog page: http://librivox.org/sonnet-130-by-william-shakespeare/


Each week a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many Librivox volunteers as possible!

This week's poem is Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare. This sonnet offers a look into the Elizabethan ideal of womanly beauty, then turns it on its head with wry realism --- "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she belied with false compare!" Then as now, real beauty is inside!

The text of the poem is available at Bartleby ( http://www.bartleby.com/70/50130.html ), or below:
Sonnet 130
By William Shakespeare

My mistress? eyes are nothing like the sun
Coral is far more red than her lips? red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask?d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,?
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
At the beginning, read the abbreviated "librivox disclaimer":
Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare, read for librivox.org by [your name]" or some variation on that, adding date, location, your personal url, if you wish.

At the End say: End of poem.

Save your recording as an mp3 file using the following filename and ID3 tag format:

File name ? all in lowercase: sonnet130_shakespeare_[your initials].mp3

ID-3 tags:
Title: Sonnet 130 - Read by [your initials]
Artist: William Shakespeare
Album: LibriVox Weekly Poetry
Genre: Please set to "Speech" if possible
Comments: optionally, you may put in the comments "Read by [your name]," your personal URL, Librivox's URL, "Public Domain," etc.

Please be sure that your recording software is set to the following technical specifications:
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44100 kHzs

You may either post a link to your completed files here in the thread or email them to me via http://www.yousendit.com/ at this address: foxinthestars AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk. If you use yousendit, it is also a good idea to post the link it generates in this thread as well.

When you post your link, please include your name as you would like it credited on the catalog page and any URL by which you would like it accompanied, if you are not already in the wiki: http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/ListOfReadersCatalogNames

Being this week's coordinator, I cheated and recorded my own version in advance. ^_~; Here it is if you'd like an example:
http://www.shininghalf.com/sharepics/sonnet130_shakespeare_lf.mp3

If you wish to contribute, please have your readings submitted by 3:00 p.m. PST on Saturday, March 11th (that's 23.00 gmt, on the same day).

Enjoy!

(And remember, anyone who submits a recording can choose the next weekly poem! If you'd like to suggest a poem or coordinate a future Weekly Poetry project, please visit this thread: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1114)


PS: this is my first time coordinating a project, so please bear with me and gently correct my course if I go astray. Thanks!
Last edited by Fox in the Stars on March 11th, 2006, 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Laura "Fox in the Stars": fan-author, puppyshipper.
...and [url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/LauraFox]LibriVixen. >^-~<[/url]
RobertG
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Post by RobertG »

Amusing sonnet! Back in the 80's, I stayed at the Shakespeare Hotel in Stratford Upon Avon. It was an interesting part of England and a place where I almost drove myself into a ditch while on a country lane and fighting against my impulse to be in the right-hand lane!

Let's not even discuss the roundabouts!! Image

I was also in London for a spell and very much enjoyed that.

Great choice. Here's my rendering...

Sonnet 130 by Wm. Shakespeare

Thanks, Fox in the Stars!
[size=92]http://climber53.com
[i]a one thin dime production[/i][/size]
[size=75][color=blue]-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-[/color]
[url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/RobertGarrison]project status is in the wiki[/url][/size]
martinc
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Post by martinc »

My attempt at sonnet 130 can be found at http://homepage.mac.com/martin.clifton

I was born and spent most of my young life within 16 miles of Stratford-upon-Avon, hence the (I hope, slight) trace of regional accent which all those expensive elocution lessons (fashionable for all us country lads brought up in the 50's) failed to eradicate!!

Martin
aricept
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Post by aricept »

Interesting selection. Easy to transition between seeming to deride his love, and simply stating what she is not.

My Reading.

Nathan
*kazoo*
kri
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Post by kri »

OK, so I can't resist this week's either. I guess I'm slowly coming back to the world of weekly poetry!!

http://www.greenkri.com/librivox/sonnet130_shakespeare_kl.mp3
1:19 min. / 1.21 MB

My information is in the wiki page for the catalog.

Is it sounding wierd to you? Maybe it's my player.
Fox in the Stars
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Post by Fox in the Stars »

Robert, Martin, Nathan, Kri, I got all your versions. They all sound lovely! Thank you! :D

And Martin, I just love that we have volunteers with accents from all sorts of places. Librivoxing is perhaps forcing me to come to terms with my Missouri southernish-Ozark-hillbilly American accent, though; it's easier to appreciate other people's than your own, I think.
Laura "Fox in the Stars": fan-author, puppyshipper.
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michaelocc
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Post by michaelocc »

There I was, teetering on the brink of commitment, and you sucked me in - the choice of a personal favourite sonnet from a personal favourite collection was enough to tip me over the edge.

Here, then, is my own first humble contribution: http://www.michaelocc.com/2006/03/sonnet130_shakespeare_mocc.mp3

Rather like Martin, I'm blessed to have grown up close enough to Stratford-upon-Avon to be able to make regular visits. We lived about 26 miles away.

Might I suggest, for a future weekly poetry choice, sonnet 152 - another personal favourite?

/m
michaelocc
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Post by michaelocc »

Sorry - my numbering was off. Meant to suggest sonnet 73.

/m
Last edited by michaelocc on March 6th, 2006, 11:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Fox in the Stars
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Post by Fox in the Stars »

michaelocc wrote:Might I suggest, for a future weekly poetry choice, sonnet 152 - another personal favourite?
All suggestions are welcomed --- we have a thread just for them stickied in this forum, the "Weekly Poetry Planning" topic. I'll go ahead and paste your suggestion there.

BTW, I don't think you're in the reader wiki yet; can you tell me your name as you want it to appear in the catalog, and any URL you want to include?

Thanks!
Laura "Fox in the Stars": fan-author, puppyshipper.
...and [url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/LauraFox]LibriVixen. >^-~<[/url]
michaelocc
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Post by michaelocc »

Just added myself to the wiki. I'm a little out of sequence here.

Full name: Michael O'Connor Clarke
URL: http://michaelocc.com

Thanks!

/m
"Allow me to furnish the interior of my head as I please, and I shall put up with a hat like everybody else's" -- Henri Bergson
Fox in the Stars
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Post by Fox in the Stars »

Got it, Michael. Thank you!

Your reading sounds great!
Laura "Fox in the Stars": fan-author, puppyshipper.
...and [url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/LauraFox]LibriVixen. >^-~<[/url]
michaelocc
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Post by michaelocc »

Thank you.

/m
"Allow me to furnish the interior of my head as I please, and I shall put up with a hat like everybody else's" -- Henri Bergson
Plum Hill
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Location: Shropshire, England

Post by Plum Hill »

Hi - this is my first time here, so I'd really appreciate any advice anyone has for me.

Like - "Remember to say End of Poem at the end of the poem!"

Anyway, here's my first effort.

Best wishes -

Graham
kri
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Post by kri »

Plum Hill wrote:Hi - this is my first time here, so I'd really appreciate any advice anyone has for me.

Like - "Remember to say End of Poem at the end of the poem!"

Anyway, here's my first effort.

Best wishes -

Graham
Nice sound quality Graham. Great for a first recording :) Great for any recording!
Fox in the Stars
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Joined: January 26th, 2006, 8:39 am
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Post by Fox in the Stars »

Plum Hill wrote:Hi - this is my first time here, so I'd really appreciate any advice anyone has for me.

Like - "Remember to say End of Poem at the end of the poem!"
Well, you already caught that yourself. ^_~
It's maybe a little quiet; you might try turning up the gain in your software, but I think our metacoordinators run it through a volume-equalising utility before posting it, so that may not be a problem even.

I think you performed the reading very well, though! Good inflection, and you took it nice and slow (unlike me my first time out ^_~; ).

Just a couple of questions, though: how do you want your name (as opposed to your Librivox nickname) to appear in the catalog, and do you have a personal URL you'd like to include in the catalog?
Laura "Fox in the Stars": fan-author, puppyshipper.
...and [url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/LauraFox]LibriVixen. >^-~<[/url]
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