by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
This project is now complete! All audio files can be found on our catalog page: http://librivox.org/?page_id=5198
Each fortnight a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!
- thanks to Cloud Mountain for suggesting this poem!
This fortnight’s poem can be found here.
Please be sure that your recording software is set to the following technical specifications:
Channels: 1 (Mono)
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44100 kHz
Have questions on "how"?
Check LV's Recording Notes thread before recording: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6427#6430
If this is your first recording, you'll also find this useful: http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/NewbieGuideToRecording
Begin your reading with the abbreviated LibriVox disclaimer:
(Please leave no more than 0.5-1 second of silence at the beginning of your recording!)
Then read the poem:Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes by Paul Laurence Dunbar, read for LibriVox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, your location, and/or your personal url.]
At the end of your reading, leave a space and then say:ERE sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,
Which all the day with ceaseless care have sought
The magic gold which from the seeker flies;
Ere dreams put on the gown and cap of thought,
And make the waking world a world of lies,-
Of lies most palpable, uncouth, forlorn,
That say life's full of aches and tears and sighs,-
Oh, how with more than dreams the soul is torn,
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,
How all the griefs and heartaches we have known
Come up like pois'nous vapors that arise
From some base witch's caldron, when the crone,
To work some potent spell, her magic plies.
The past which held its share of bitter pain,
Whose ghost we prayed that Time might exorcise,
Comes up, is lived and suffered o'er again,
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,
What phantoms fill the dimly lighted room;
What ghostly shades in awe-creating guise
Are bodied forth within the teeming gloom.
What echoes faint of sad and soul-sick cries,
And pangs of vague inexplicable pain
That pay the spirit's ceaseless enterprise,
Come thronging through the chambers of the brain
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,
Where ranges forth the spirit far and free?
Through what strange realms and unfamiliar skies.
Tends her far course to lands of mystery?
To lands unspeakable-beyond surmise,
Where shapes unknowable to being spring,
Till, faint of wing, the Fancy fails and dies
Much wearied with the spirit's journeying,
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,
How questioneth the soul that other soul,-
The inner sense which neither cheats nor lies,
But self exposes unto self, a scroll
Full writ with all life's acts unwise or wise,
In characters indelible and known;
So, trembling with the shock of sad surprise,
The soul doth view its awful self alone,
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes,
The last dear sleep whose soft embrace is balm,
And whom sad sorrow teaches us to prize
For kissing all our passions into calm,
Ah, then, no more we heed the sad world's cries,
Or seek to probe th' eternal mystery,
Or fret our souls at long-withheld replies,
At glooms through which our visions cannot see,
When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes.
Please leave five (5) seconds of silence at the end of your recording.End of poem. This recording is in the public domain.
Save your recording as an mp3 file using the following filename and ID3 tag format:
File name - all in lowercase:eresleepcomesdown_dunbar_[your initials].mp3 (eg. eresleepcomesdown_dunbar_dl.mp3)
ID3 tags (Version 2):
Title: Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes - Read by [YOUR INITIALS] (eg. Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes - Read by DL)
Artist: Paul Laurence Dunbar
Album: LibriVox Fortnightly Poetry
Comments: (optional) Recorded by [your name]
Transfer of files (completed recordings)
Please upload with the LibriVox uploader:
http://upload.librivox.org
If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin
You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: dl - aradlaw
Please post a link to your file in this thread.
When you post your link, please include your name as you would like it credited on the catalogue 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.)
If you wish to contribute, please have your readings submitted by 0600 GMT Sunday, July 12th, 2009 (12:00am CDT)
(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 Poetry project, please visit this thread.)
If you need any help or advice please don’t hesitate to post here or PM me. I’m always willing to help.
MAGIC WINDOW:
(BC admin)
great reading, the only note to make is there are some mic noises audible in the recording, you've put so much energy into this, you've probably nudged the mic 
