All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/mona-lisa-by-mary-gardiner-horsford/
Each fortnight a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!Mary Gardiner Horsford was an American poet and the wife of chemist Eben Norton Horsford. Her career as a poet began in her youth and continued during her marriage. She wrote for The Knickerbocker, Godey's Lady's Book, and other periodicals. Her poem "My Native Isle," commemorating her longtime home of Shelter Island, New York, was among those anthologized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's collection Poems of Places. (Summary by Wikipedia)
This fortnight's poem can be found here.
Project Code: swfNcHG2
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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 ½ to 1 second of silence at the beginning.
Then read the poem:Mona Lisa by Mary Gardiner Horsford, read for librivox.org by [your name].
[Add, if you wish, date, and/or your location.]
At the end of your reading, leave a space and then say:Leonardo da Vinci is said to have been four years employed upon the portrait of Mona Lisa, a fair Florentine, without being able to come up to the idea of her beauty.
Artist! lay the brush aside;
Twilight gathers chill and gray;
Turn the picture to the wall,—
Thou hast wrought in vain to-day.
Thrice twelve months have hastened by
Since thy canvas first grew bright
With that brow's bewitching beauty,
And that dark eye's melting light.
But the early morning shineth
On thy tireless labors yet,
And the portrait stands before thee
Till the evening sun has set.
Faultless is the robe that falleth
Round that form of matchless grace;
Faultless is the softened outline
Of the fair and oval face.
Thou hast caught the wondrous beauty
Of the round cheek's roseate hue,
And the full, red lips are smiling
As this morn they smiled on you.
To that Lady thou hast given
Immortality below;
Wherefore then, with moody glances,
Dost thou from thy labor go?
From the living face of beauty
Beams the soul's expressive ray,
And with all thy god-like genius
This thou never canst portray.
Of the countless throng around me
Each hath labors like to thine,
Each, methinks, some Mona Lisa
In his spirit's inmost shrine.
Visions haunt us from our childhood
Of a love so pure, so true,
Time and tears, and care and anguish,
Leave it steadfast, fair and new;—
Visions that elude for ever,
As the silent years depart,
Some unhappy ones and weary,—
Mona Lisas of the heart.
Gleams of that divine completeness
God's angelic ones attain,
Pass amid our toils before us,
And we emulate in vain.
Poet fancies crowd the spirit,
We would print upon the scroll—
But that perfect utterance faileth—
Mona Lisas of the soul.
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.End of poem. This recording is in the public domain.
Filename: monalisa_horsford_your initials in lowercase_128kb.mp3 (e.g. monalisa_horsford_klh_128kb.mp3)
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(If you have trouble reading the image above, please contact an admin)
MC to select: aradlaw
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, do you want me to send it raw and you take care of editing, or should I edit? I usually do the noise gate edit to get rid of the noise.
good first reading, all specs are correct. 