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:
At the beginning, read the abbreviated "librivox disclaimer":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.
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!