This project is now complete! All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-song-of-the-waters-by-william-murray-graydon/
Each fortnight a poem is chosen to be recorded by as many LibriVox volunteers as possible!William Murray Graydon, February 4, 1864 – April 5, 1946, was an extremely prolific American writer who also wrote under the pen-names Alfred Armitage, William Murray, and Tom Olliver. He published a wide variety of historical fiction, wilderness and adventure stories and poems, science-fiction, and Sexton Blake boy detective stories. This lovely poem describes what the poet seems to hear the Susquehanna river whispering as it flows by his campsite on a star-lit night. Note: The Susquehanna River flows from upstate New York state to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. (Summary by Michele Fry, BC/DPL, January 2022)
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 the abbreviated LibriVox disclaimer:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.
Then read the poem:THE SONG OF THE WATERS by William Murray Graydon, 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:It was midnight on the water
By fair Susquehanna's shore,
Floating dimly down the distance
Came the rapids sullen roar;
And the camp-fire's smouldering embers
Threw a faint and ruddy gleam,
On our tent amid the pine trees
On the sparkling, moon-lit stream.
I was sleepless, and the beauty
Of the radiant, star-lit night
Drew me down beside the water,
With an unresistful might.
On the farther shore the mountains
And the heavens seem to meet
And their deep empurpling shadows
Stained the current at my feet.
Sweet and faintly sang the waters
Soft they murmured o'er the stones,
And their music seemed to whisper
In the sweetest, faintest tones;
"I am ancient, very ancient,
I am aged if a day,
And the centuries, piled on centuries,
Will attest me what I say.
"I could sing of trackless forests
Never trod by foot of man,
Of the beasts and birds that loved me,
Through their brief and earthly span.
I could tell of newer ages.
When the Red man trod the shore,
When the war-whoop's piercing echo
Rang above the rapid's roar.
"I could sing of Wyalusing
And her brave Moravian men,
Of the village that they founded
Far from haunts of mortal ken,
And of Standing Stone, the mighty,
Close by Wysox's rocky shore
Bronzed and grey with countlesss ages
Rich in legendary lore.
"I could tell of war and treachery,
Of the tomahawk and knife;
Of the tory and the settler,
And their sharp and bloody strife.
I could sing of fierce Queen Esther,
And the rock that bears her name;
Of sweet Gertrude of Wyoming
She of old historic fame.
"I could sing of love and pleasure,
I could tell of grief and pain,
In the centuries that have flourished,
That can never come again;
But my duties call me onward,
I can here no longer bide.
I must haste to lave my ripples
In the ocean's briny tide."
Then the fretful, babbling current
Drowned the river's rhythmic tone.
And the waters seemed to murmur
"I am going, I am gone."
And the moonbeams' silvery halo
Danced on river, rock and shore,
And again the forest echoed
To the rapid's sullen roar.
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.End of poem. This recording is in the public domain.
Filename: songofthewaters_graydon_your initials in lowercase_128kb.mp3 (e.g. songofthewaters_graydon_mtf_128kb.mp3)
Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please contact an admin)
MC to select: TriciaG
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 prooflistening notes.
If this is your first recording for LV, please include your name as you would like it credited on the catalog page and any URL by which you would like it accompanied.
Check back in a day or so for any feedback regarding your reading.
Deadline: Please submit your recording by 0600 GMT Sunday, January 16, 2022 (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!
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BC Admin
Project Code: eC6hGu9n
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 the Weekly/Fortnightly Poetry Suggestions thread.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Just post in this thread.
Fixing it now...
