All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/our-mat-by-andrew-barton-paterson/
Each week a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!Banjo Paterson's speculations on a piece of prison craft. This poem references The Darlinghurst Gaol, a former Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. Australian poet Henry Lawson spent time incarcerated there during some of the turbulent years of his life and described the gaol as Starvinghurst Gaol due to meagre rations given to the inmates. It was closed in 1914 and has subsequently been repurposed to house the National Art School.( Wikipedia)
This week's poem can be found here.
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!
Then read the poem:Our Mat by Andrew Barton Paterson, read for LibriVox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, your location, and/or your personal url.]
It came from the prison this morning,
Close-twisted, neat-lettered, and flat;
It lies the hall doorway adorning,
A very good style of a mat.
Prison-made! how the spirit is moven
As we think of its story of dread
What wiles of the wicked are woven
And spun in its intricate thread!
The letters are new, neat and nobby,
Suggesting a masterly hand
Was it Sikes, who half-murdered the bobby,
That put the neat D on the "and"?
Some banker found guilty of laches--
It's always called laches, you know--
Had Holt any hand in those Hs?
Did Bertrand illumine that 0?
That T has a look of the gallows,
That A's a triangle, I guess;
Was it one of the Mount Rennie fellows
Who twisted the strands of the S?
Was it made by some "highly connected",
Who is doing his spell "on his head",
Or some wretched woman detected
In stealing her children some bread?
Does it speak of a bitter repentance
For the crime that so easily came?
Of the wearisome length of the sentence,
Of the sin, and the sorrow, and shame?
A mat! I should call it a sermon
On sin, to all sinners addressed;
It would take a keen judge to determine
Whether writer or reader is best.
Though the doorway be hard as a pavestone,
I rather would use it than that--
I'd as soon wipe my boots on a gravestone,
As I would on that Darlinghurst mat!
The Bulletin, 2 April 1887
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: ourmat_paterson_your initials in lowercase_128kb.mp3
(e.g. ourmat_paterson_klh_128kb.mp3 )
ID3 tags (Version 2.30): ID Tags are completed during Cataloging
*Readers, please check back in a day or so for any feedback regarding your reading.
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
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin) - You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: aradlaw
- When your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread.
- If this doesn't work, or you have questions, please check our How To Send Your Recording wiki page.
(If you wish to contribute, please have your readings submitted by 0600 GMT Sunday, July 21, 2019. (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 weekly poem! If you'd like to suggest a poem or coordinate a future Weekly Poetry project, please visit this thread.)
