COMPLETE [FORTNIGTLY POEM] The West, by Francis Borton - dl

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

The West, by Francis Borton

This project is now complete! All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-west-by-francis-s-borton/
This fortnightly poem, read by 14 Librivox Volunteers, is from "The Call of California, and other poems of the West" by Francis Borton. It talks about harsh nature's cruel majesty and mastery over the animals, and then man's heroic attempts to master nature. (Summary by Michele Fry)
Each fortnight, a Librivox member chooses a poem to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!
If you'd like to suggest a poem or coordinate a future project, please visit this thread.
Project Code: JpTz18oW

This fortnight's poem can be found here.

New to recording? Please see our Newbie Guide to Recording for further instructions. A quick guide to our required technical settings can be found here. When you post your file, please tell the BC what name you would like to use in our catalog.

LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs

Begin your reading with:
0.5 to 1 second of silence, then say:
The West by Francis Borton, read for librivox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, and/or your location.]
Then read the poem:
Along our blue Sierra's wall,
No moldering castles rest;
But there the Redman s Thunder-bird
Hath built his lonely nest.

No hoary donjons, foul with crime,
Oppress the good, clean sod
Where live-oaks meet, with knotted arms,
The blazing bolts of God.

Instead of doubtful titles stamped
On pride's dim vellumed page.
The sullen grizzly here hath left
The claw marks of his rage.

No silken halls, no softness here,
No courtiers, false as hell;
But from the echoing granite gorge
The panther's deadly yell!

Here, laws unflattering, primal, harsh ;
The desert's scorching breath;
Here, thorn, fang, claw and scalping knife-
The crimson trail of death!

And what are man-made kings and courts,
With cheap, brief honors set,
Where, in the red, raw clay of things,
God 's thumb-prints yet are wet?

Amid these awful solitudes.
With skies so still and blue,
Are held such deadly, fierce debates
As minstrels never knew.

Here howling winds of ocean meet
The wild winds of the sky,
While vast, dim shapes from desert wastes
Their spirals wheel on high.

Cliff calls to cliff; th' avalanche
Replies in thunders loud,
While shafts of blinding lightning split
The swirling, inky cloud,

That bursts, and ploughs the mountains down,
The salt plain's hissing sands,
Till fresh-torn cañon gulfs reveal
Earth's granite swaddling bands!

* * *

And here are men, sons of thy strength,
Oh, western land of mine,
Gay, tender, careless, swift and wild,
But upright as the pine.

Serene, clear-eyed, of Spartan speech.
The breed of men out here,
Who've trailed with hunger, thirst and death,
But never met with fear.

The wide, free winds are in their hearts,
The deep-voiced torrent's roar,
The solemn stillness of the woods,
Beside the lonely shore.

They need no finger-posts for faith;
No self-sure go-between;
They look God in the face and smile;
Their rugged hearts are clean.

They pluck the gray wolf from his den;
They tire the grizzly down,
Or peacefully their harvests reap
Along the foothills brown.

They beat the mountain into dust;
They burst its ribs apart;
Their laughter rings Homeric when
They clutch its golden heart!

Alone they win the chill, still heights,
By mountain sheep untrod;
They gaze abroad, they bare their brows
And shout, "Hurrah for God!";

Oh, little folk, who cringe and hedge.
Who cannot understand,
They tread a broader trail than yours
Across our Sunset Land,

Where man is kin to peak and star,
The wide plain's lonely space;
Where oft they ride so close to God
They meet Him face to face !
At the end of your reading, leave a space and then say:
End of poem. This recording is in the public domain.
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.

Name your file: west_borton_your initials in lowercase_128kb, and save as an .mp3 (e.g. west_borton_klh_128kb.mp3)

Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
Image
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please contact an admin)

MC to select: aradlaw

Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into a new post in this thread along with the file duration (mm: ss). Watch this thread for proof listening notes.

First-time readers, please include your name as you would like it credited on the catalog page, and any URL by which you would like it accompanied. (Note: This is only necessary if you have not done so for another project.)

Check back in a day or so for any feedback regarding your reading, and make any edits required by your DPL.

Deadline: Please submit your recording by 0600 GMT Sunday, JUNE 13 (12:00 AM CST)

Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process unless you are the BC or PL. Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!

Magic Window:



BC Admin


And remember, anyone can suggest a poem or coordinate an upcoming Fortnightly Poetry project! We hope you will!!!!!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Just post in this thread.

BC/DPL for this project is msfry/Michele Fry
MC is aradlaw/David Lawrence
Last edited by msfry on June 13th, 2021, 8:01 am, edited 3 times in total.
aradlaw
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 18915
Joined: July 14th, 2008, 4:54 pm
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Contact:

Post by aradlaw »

Thanks for BCing this Michele, you are all set up. :D
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

PL Notes The West, for Kevin
.:41 repeat, false as hell
3:10 the wide plain's lonely space, you say only.
KevinS
Posts: 15477
Joined: April 7th, 2019, 8:32 am
Contact:

Post by KevinS »

msfry wrote: May 30th, 2021, 10:15 am PL Notes The West, for Kevin
.:41 repeat, false as hell
3:10 the wide plain's lonely space, you say only.
Back to the mic!
KevinS
Posts: 15477
Joined: April 7th, 2019, 8:32 am
Contact:

Post by KevinS »

msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

KevinS wrote: May 30th, 2021, 11:42 am Corrections.

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/west_borton_ks_128kb.mp3 (3:26)
Great and thanks for being first to take the plunge. PL OK!
grs2905
Posts: 266
Joined: February 16th, 2018, 3:54 pm
Contact:

Post by grs2905 »

msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

Thank you for your contribution GRS. You are PL OK.
LeeSalter
Posts: 215
Joined: November 27th, 2020, 12:32 pm
Location: Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA

Post by LeeSalter »

I've had a cold for the past 2 weeks and haven't been able to record. Finally:
Here's my recording. Running time is 3:40

Link is https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/west_borton_ls_128kb.mp3
msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

Thank you Lee, your rendition is PL OK.
brucek
Posts: 2201
Joined: October 31st, 2013, 3:23 pm
Contact:

Post by brucek »

Hey Michele, great to hear from you!

Here's my attempt, duration 4:37

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/west_borton_bk_128kb.mp3

One thing I feel compelled to mention regarding Verse 10's third line "Till fresh-torn canon gulfs reveal":

In the original, the word "canon" has a tilde over the first "n", suggesting a pronunciation like the word "canyon" and a similar meaning, which in fact seems ideally suited to the context.

Thanks,

Stay well,

Bruce.
msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

Thank you Bruce, so glad I can say canyon!!!! That's ALT164. Now, do you have anything for donjon? Can we say dungeon?
msfry
Posts: 11663
Joined: June 4th, 2013, 9:09 am
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:

Post by msfry »

Bruce, your rendition is PL OK. The way you read it, I can almost hear this sung as a hymn.
silverquill
Posts: 28811
Joined: May 25th, 2013, 9:11 pm
Location: Southern California

Post by silverquill »

~ Larry
Post Reply