COMPLETE [Fortnightly]To His Mistress Going to Bed by Donne

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

To His Mistress Going to Bed by John Donne (1572 - 1631).

All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/to-his-mistress-going-to-bed-by-john-donne/
John Donne was an English poet and cleric in the Church of England.

He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. ( Wikipedia)
Each fortnight a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!
This Fortnightly Poem is suggested by adonis.
This fortnight's poem can be found here.
[*] Project Code: hNcsv4ph

Set your recording software to:
Channels: 1 (Mono)
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44100 kHz

Have questions on "how"?
Check LV's Recording Notes thread before recording. If this is your first recording, you'll also find this Newbie Guide to Recording useful.
Begin your reading with the abbreviated LibriVox disclaimer:
No more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of the recording!
To His Mistress Going to Bed by John Donne, read for LibriVox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, your location, and/or your personal url.]
Then read the poem:
Come, Madam, come, all rest my powers defy,
Until I labour, I in labour lie.
The foe oft-times having the foe in sight,
Is tir’d with standing though he never fight.
Off with that girdle, like heaven’s Zone glistering,
But a far fairer world encompassing.
Unpin that spangled breastplate which you wear,
That th’eyes of busy fools may be stopped there.
Unlace yourself, for that harmonious chime,
Tells me from you, that now it is bed time.
Off with that happy busk, which I envy,
That still can be, and still can stand so nigh.
Your gown going off, such beauteous state reveals,
As when from flowery meads th’hill’s shadow steals.
Off with that wiry Coronet and shew
The hairy Diadem which on you doth grow:
Now off with those shoes, and then safely tread
In this love’s hallow’d temple, this soft bed.
In such white robes, heaven’s Angels used to be
Received by men; Thou Angel bringst with thee
A heaven like Mahomet’s Paradise; and though
Ill spirits walk in white, we easily know,
By this these Angels from an evil sprite,
Those set our hairs, but these our flesh upright.
Licence my roving hands, and let them go,
Before, behind, between, above, below.
O my America! my new-found-land,
My kingdom, safeliest when with one man mann’d,
My Mine of precious stones, My Empirie,
How blest am I in this discovering thee!
To enter in these bonds, is to be free;
Then where my hand is set, my seal shall be.
Full nakedness! All joys are due to thee,
As souls unbodied, bodies uncloth’d must be,
To taste whole joys. Gems which you women use
Are like Atlanta’s balls, cast in men’s views,
That when a fool’s eye lighteth on a Gem,
His earthly soul may covet theirs, not them.
Like pictures, or like books’ gay coverings made
For lay-men, are all women thus array’d;
Themselves are mystic books, which only we
(Whom their imputed grace will dignify)
Must see reveal’d. Then since that I may know;
As liberally, as to a Midwife, shew
Thy self: cast all, yea, this white linen hence,
There is no penance due to innocence.
To teach thee, I am naked first; why then
What needst thou have more covering than a man.


At the end of your reading, leave a space and then say:
End of poem. This recording is in the public domain.

Please leave 5 seconds of silence at the end of your recording.
Save your recording as an mp3 file using the following filename and ID3 tag format:
File name - all in lowercase: goingtobed_donne_your initials in lowercase_128kb.mp3
(e.g. goingtobed_donne_klh_128kb.mp3 )

ID3 tags (Version 2.30) ID Tags are completed during Cataloging


Transfer of files (completed recordings): Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file.
Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.
  • Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
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(If you wish to contribute, please have your readings submitted by 0600 GMT Sunday, February 26, 2017. (12:00AM CDT)

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BC Admin
(And remember, anyone can suggest a poem for a certain week and/or coordinate an upcoming fortnightly poem! If you'd like to suggest a poem or coordinate a future Fortnightly Poetry project, please visit this thread.)
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
adonis
Posts: 1258
Joined: August 27th, 2015, 8:33 am

Post by adonis »

Setting the ball rolling:

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/goingtobed_donne_ta_128kb.mp3

Length: 3:55

You shall go to the ball! Or, if not, as someone so cogently has said, the ball shall come to you.

Sincerely,
Tony Addison.
Alitheia
Posts: 89
Joined: October 15th, 2016, 12:46 pm

Post by Alitheia »

Alitheia

"There was enough of everything, and all of it good."
Anton Chekhov
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Tony. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Alitheia wrote:It seems to me there's a typo: "shew" instead of "show."

"Off with your wiry coronet and show
The hairy diadem which on you doth grow"

[/url]
Thanks Alitheia, in this case I think the use of 'shew' is appropriate, as the poem is written in old(e) English. There are two instances of 'shew' in the poem.
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
JennyA
Posts: 22
Joined: January 30th, 2017, 11:45 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by JennyA »

This seems like a good place to begin my illustrious LibriVox career!

reading by Jenny Adamson, length 02:31

This is the first proper piece that I have recorded, so any constructive feedback from a technical or human perspective is very welcome.

Jenny
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Jenny, good first reading, all specs are correct.

*Please let me know under what name would you like to appear in the LV catalog and if you have one, we can put your personal URL link on your catalog page too.
You can view your brand new LV Catalog page by clicking your forum name in the Magic Window.
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
JennyA
Posts: 22
Joined: January 30th, 2017, 11:45 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by JennyA »

Thanks David - sorry, I thought putting my name in the link text would be sufficient. Please use Jenny Adamson for my name, no URL just now.
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Your catalog page is updated Jenny. :)
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
Newgatenovelist
Posts: 5184
Joined: February 17th, 2015, 7:22 am

Post by Newgatenovelist »

I can't resist Donne!
https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/goingtobed_donne_el_128kb.mp3
(3.47)

Erin


Jenny, you have a lovely accent, and I do hope that this is the start of a long and enjoyable time at Librivox!
Off LV 25-28 March.
aradlaw
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 18915
Joined: July 14th, 2008, 4:54 pm
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Erin. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
JennyA
Posts: 22
Joined: January 30th, 2017, 11:45 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by JennyA »

Newgatenovelist wrote:I can't resist Donne!
https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/goingtobed_donne_el_128kb.mp3
(3.47)

Erin


Jenny, you have a lovely accent, and I do hope that this is the start of a long and enjoyable time at Librivox!
Thank you Erin - that is very encouraging!

I can't resist Donne either. He's the only poet I actually enjoyed studying when I was a teenager in school.
jasonb
Posts: 725
Joined: July 25th, 2006, 4:31 pm

Post by jasonb »

Regards,
Jason (back) in Canada

20 Years in Canada, 20 years in Panama, now returned to Canada for the next stage of my life
aradlaw
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Location: Ottawa, Ontario
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Jason. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
GregGiordano
Posts: 5693
Joined: December 31st, 2012, 9:22 am
Location: New Port Richey, Florida

Post by GregGiordano »

Here is my contribution to this project...

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/goingtobed_donne_gg_128kb.mp3

Run time is 3:42

Take care,

Greg
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