COMPLETE [FORTNIGHTLY POEM] The Lover in Hell by Stephen Vincent Benét - dl

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

The Lover in Hell by Stephen Vincent Benét (1898 - 1943)

All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-lover-in-hell-by-stephen-vincent-benet/
Our Fortnightly Hallowe'en offering is taken from Young Adventure: A Book of Poems by Stephen Vincent Benét, an American Poet and short-story writer. (Summary by David Lawrence)
Each fortnight a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!
This fortnight's poem can be found here.
Project Code: JeGZw5Ht

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 the abbreviated LibriVox disclaimer:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.
The Lover in Hell by Stephen Vincent Benét, read for librivox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, and/or your location.]
Then read the poem:
Eternally the choking steam goes up
From the black pools of seething oil....
How merry
Those little devils are! They've stolen the pitchfork
From Bel, there, as he slept... Look! — oh look, look!
They've got at Nero! Oh it isn't fair!
Lord, how he squeals! Stop it... it's, well — indecent!
But funny!... See, Bel's waked. They'll catch it now!

... Eternally that stifling reek arises,
Blotting the dome with smoky, terrible towers,
Black, strangling trees, whispering obscene things
Amongst their branches, clutching with maimed hands,
Or oozing slowly, like blind tentacles
Up to the gates; higher than that heaped brick
Man piled to smite the sun. And all around
Are devils. One can laugh... but that hunched shape
The face one stone, like those Assyrian kings!
One sees in carvings, watching men flayed red
Horribly laughable in leaps and writhes;
That face — utterly evil, clouded round
With evil like a smoke — it turns smiles sour!
... And Nero there, the flabby cheeks astrain
And sweating agony... long agony...
Imperishable, unappeasable
For ever... well... it droops the mouth. Till I
Look up.
There's one blue patch no smoke dares touch.
Sky, clear, ineffable, alive with light,
Always the same...
Before, I never knew
Rest and green peace.
She stands there in the sun.
... It seems so quaint she should have long gold wings.
I never have got used — folded across
Her breast, or fluttering with fierce, pure light,
Like shaken steel. Her crown too. Well, it's queer!
And then she never cared much for the harp
On earth. Here, though...
She is all peace, all quiet,
All passionate desires, the eloquent thunder
Of new, glad suns, shouting aloud for joy,
Over fresh worlds and clean, trampling the air
Like stooping hawks, to the long wind of horns,
Flung from the bastions of Eternity...
And she is the low lake, drowsy and gentle,
And good words spoken from the tongues of friends,
And calmness in the evening, and deep thoughts,
Falling like dreams from the stars' solemn mouths.
All these.
They said she was unfaithful once.
Or I remembered it — and so, for that,
I lie here, I suppose. Yes, so they said.
You see she is so troubled, looking down,
Sorrowing deeply for my torments. I
Of course, feel nothing while I see her — save
That sometimes when I think the matter out,
And what earth-people said of us, of her,
It seems as if I must be, here, in heaven,
And she —
... Then I grow proud; and suddenly
There comes a splatter of oil against my skin,
Hurting this time. And I forget my pride:
And my face writhes.
Some day the little ladder
Of white words that I build up, up, to her
May fetch me out. Meanwhile it isn't bad....

But what a sense of humor God must have!
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.

Filename: loverinhell_benet_your initials in lowercase_128kb.mp3 (e.g. loverinhell_benet_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.

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Check back in a day or so for any feedback regarding your reading.

Deadline: Please submit your recording by 0600 GMT Sunday, October 31, 2021 (12:00 AM CST)

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And remember, anyone can suggest a poem or coordinate an upcoming Fortnightly Poetry project! If you'd like to suggest a poem or coordinate a future project, please visit this thread.

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

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
alexyourbuddy
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Joined: August 30th, 2021, 10:41 pm

Post by alexyourbuddy »

aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Alex, good reading, but there are a couple of technical issues that need addressing...
- your bitrate is ~122 kbps (variable), we need 128 kbps (constant)
- the filename needs the 128kb added, please copy/paste the sample filename in the instructions; we need this for cataloging.
- the volume is low at 83.3 dB, You should aim for your waveforms to peak near the 0.5 mark, like this:


Image

You can check your volume using our Checker program - see info at http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Checker You will find the volume in decibels on the Information tab. For your information, we look for around 89 dB (87-91 is OK) (all the other tech specs are there also)
If you could make those corrections and upload using the same filename, thanks. :wink:
David Lawrence

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

Hi David -

Another for the collection -

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/loverinhell_benet_ps_128kb.mp3
Track length: 4:19
Fritz

"A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules."

Trollope
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Phil. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

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

I asked my librarian about the noise, and she said, "no one would come here
if they weren't allowed to talk out loud." So I read out loud.

Je lis à haute voix car refléchir fait trop de bruit!
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you czandra. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
speaker987
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Joined: October 2nd, 2020, 9:27 am

Post by speaker987 »

Fortnightly Poem Submission

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/loverinhell_benet_dn_128kb.mp3


Length 4 min 1 sec

Darrell
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Darrell. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
dg73
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Post by dg73 »

Here's my attempt at it. Trickier than I thought at first glance!

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/loverinhell_benet_dg_128kb.mp3 3.83 KB
length 4:05
Dan Gurzynski
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Dan. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
yourbookvoice
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Location: Mesa, Arizona

Post by yourbookvoice »

Here's mine:
https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/loverinhell_benet_kla_128kb.mp3
at 5m 31s
What a read!

Kerry Adams,
Your Book Voice
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

Thank you Kerry. :thumbs:
David Lawrence

* Weekly & Fortnightly Poetry - Check out the Short Works forum for the latest projects!
gooseandcaboose
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Joined: October 23rd, 2021, 8:52 am
Location: SE Texas

Post by gooseandcaboose »

Here is mine!
https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/loverinhell_benet_ajg_128kb.mp3
(05:17)

Very interesting poem for my first read! I would like to be credited as Anna Goss. Thanks!
brucek
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Post by brucek »

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