COMPLETE [Fortnightly Poem] A Psalm Of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - dl

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

A Psalm Of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882).

All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/a-psalm-of-life-by-henry-wadsworth-longfellow/
This poem was first published in the October 1838 issue of The Knickerbocker, a New York City magazine. It then appeared in Longfellow's first published book of poems, Voices Of The Night, in 1839. It is an upbeat psalmists answer to the biblical psalm that we are but dust heading for the grave, urging us instead to be heroic, to make the most of our lives, and set a good example for others to follow. (Summary by Michele Fry)
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: jPT9oX9t

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!
A Psalm Of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, read for LibriVox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, your location, and/or your personal url.]
Then read the poem:
What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,—act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;—

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

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: psalmoflife_longfellow_your initials_128kb.mp3

ID3 tags (Version 2):
Artist Name: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Track Title: A Psalm Of Life - Read by YOUR INITIALS (e.g. A Psalm Of Life - Read by KLH)
Album Title: LibriVox Fortnightly Poetry
Comments: (optional) Recorded by [your name]

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(If you wish to contribute, please have your readings submitted by 0600 GMT Sunday, February 17 (12:00AM CDT)

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(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.)
Last edited by msfry on February 16th, 2019, 10:02 pm, edited 4 times in total.
pschempf
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Post by pschempf »

Hi Michele -

Do you want the title and author repeated or just read once and start the poem at "What the heart..."?
Fritz

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

Trollope
msfry
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Post by msfry »

Thanks for pointing out the duplication. It's fixed now.
grs2905
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Post by grs2905 »

tovarisch
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Post by tovarisch »

Those who know will use the Archive (the source), but just in case somebody decides to read from your post, Michele, please remove the extraneous characters from it:
...
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife! A_Psalm of_Life
...
Thanks!
tovarisch
  • reality prompts me to scale down my reading, sorry to say
    to PLers: do correct my pronunciation please
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Since you're already getting recordings, I've set up the MW for you. David can clean up any mess I made when he's around. :)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
NemoR
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Post by NemoR »

Nemo

Thoreau - “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
aradlaw
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Post by aradlaw »

TriciaG wrote: February 3rd, 2019, 7:10 pm Since you're already getting recordings, I've set up the MW for you. David can clean up any mess I made when he's around. :)
Thanks Tricia, is there a way of adding more MW sections in bulk, once the original # is set? (only way I know of is add sections one at a time)
David Lawrence

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

Good catch tovarisch!!! ... I did not even notice!

I revised my version ..now at 2:17 ...

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/psalmoflife_longfellow_nr_128kb.mp3
Nemo

Thoreau - “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
msfry
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Post by msfry »

tovarisch wrote: February 3rd, 2019, 6:59 pm Those who know will use the Archive (the source), but just in case somebody decides to read from your post, Michele, please remove the extraneous characters from it:
...
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife! A_Psalm of_Life
...
Thanks!
I thought that looked suspicious, but hadn't processed it yet. Good catch. Fixed now, with only poor Nemo victimized!
msfry
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Post by msfry »

aradlaw wrote: February 3rd, 2019, 7:37 pm
TriciaG wrote: February 3rd, 2019, 7:10 pm Since you're already getting recordings, I've set up the MW for you. David can clean up any mess I made when he's around. :)
Thanks Tricia, is there a way of adding more MW sections in bulk, once the original # is set? (only way I know of is add sections one at a time)
I see no big rush on setting up the MW for my Fortnightlies. The pieces are short and easy to PL. It would be a problem if the MW wasn't in place by Thursday or Friday though, especially for a weekly poem. The number David starts with has been 20, and usually doesn't exceed that in my experience. Always hoping or more, though. :)

Go Patriots! 13 to 3. Whee!
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

No, no "bulk add sections" function. The original project, when I entered the code, had zero for the number of sections, so I just dumped in a number, figuring Michele could add them pretty easily as people contributed. :)

Ah, well. Carry on...
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
NemoR
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Post by NemoR »

msfry wrote: February 3rd, 2019, 8:28 pm
I thought that looked suspicious, but hadn't processed it yet. Good catch. Fixed now, with only poor Nemo victimized!
Ha! .. no worries Michele, it was an easy edit! .... however, it looks like you caught poor Graham as well :(
Nemo

Thoreau - “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
msfry
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Post by msfry »

Thanks Nemo and Graham as first contributors, alas, guinea pigs (sorry to have included that superfluous line, now removed! When I copied the text from the webpage, it added in the title of the poem at that spot. I never thought to check for that.

Graham, please delete "a psalm of life" at 1:15, and your bitrate needs to be set at 128kb.
Nemo you are PL OK.
msfry
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Post by msfry »

Here's my rendition:

https://librivox.org/uploads/aradlaw/psalmoflife_longfellow_mtf_128kb.mp3 1:56

And who will do me the honors? Nemo?
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