Keats Recordings

[Saturn]

I shall give it a go.

And don't call your poems old tripe - they are most decidedly not!!!

I'd like to hear Denise read I Don't Know - I love that poem so much

[AsphodelElysium]

Agreed. I'd also like to hear her read "Love and Heaven" as well. Your avatar picture is very nice, by the way. You look happily content.

[Saturn]

It's a mask...

I will do those you've requested and if anyone else wants to hear me read any of mine just let me know - I'm sure Densie will be asking me to read some of her favourite ones of mine...

[dks]

I have one word:

Tantalus.

You knew that was coming, Stephen...

I have the vocal pitch of a 12 year-old when I speak...I wouldn't do my own poems any justice I'm afraid...how do you record and send it in a post anyway?

[Saturn]

Okay guys just for you two:

Jealous Love
http://media.putfile.com/Jealous-Love

Tantalus
http://media.putfile.com/Tantalus

The Votarist
http://media.putfile.com/The-Votarist

Unspoken Words, Unwritten Verse
http://media.putfile.com/Unspoken-Words-Unwritten-Verse

Apologies for the poor recording and my monotone dull voice but that's how I speak unfortunately

[AsphodelElysium]

Oh wow, that was...that gave me chills. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is nothing, nothing, like hearing poetry read aloud and, specifically, hearing an author read their own work. Bravo, Saturn, bravo! Listening to those was like eating a particularly good piece of cheesecake, it was rich and satisfying.

And your voice is NOT monotonous or dull. If I wasn't so pleased at the moment, I would fuss at you about that more.

This was wonderful. Thank you!!!!

[Saturn]

I'm glad you like them. It's funny I wasn't exactly sure how to read them, even though I write them. I never really think of having them read aloud at all, I know poetry was and should be read but my poems seem better on the page, they're not very musical I know - blank verse doesn't have the same lilting tone as rhymed verse.

By the way you must never sleep being on here so early in the morning

[AsphodelElysium]

Your diction lends a certain musicality to your poetry. It doesn't necessarily need the rhyme or the meter, though, in some parts you have that as well. You may not think about them being read aloud, but isn't there a certain way you read them in your mind during and after composition?

I fall back on how it sounds in my head. Sometimes I have to read aloud several times, my own and others, poetry to get it to sound the way I "hear" it when I read to myself.

I'm one of those unfortunate persons who are more productive at night. My schedule, heretofore, has accommodated me in this but that will probably change when I start back to work. I actually haven't been to bed yet.

[Saturn]

Get to bed woman

[AsphodelElysium]

Yes sir.

[zebluepenguin]

W.O.W. OMG! HAHAHA!

[Bordesley]

If you could choose a voice to record Keats, whom would you choose? Here are a couple from me: Robert Powell and Richard Burton. Of course in the case of Richard Burton I should say would have chosen.

[Saturn]

Oh yes Burton would have been excellent, he had such a mellifluous voice.

Robert Powell is perhaps a bit too posh sounding to read Keats for me. I remember seeing in a bookshop many years ago some tapes in which he read Byron's letters and journals. I think that Byron's aristocratic irony and louche detachment better suits him than Keats.

[Bordesley]

I plumbed for Robert Powell for a two reasons. I have a recording of his reading John Buchan and it is truly delightful. I also went to see him at the Garrick in Lichfield, where he did a show with Helena Michell, the daughter of the actor Keith whom you probably remember from The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Just the two on stage, two armchairs, with a table and a glass of wine. They were superb; monolgues, Shakespeare, poetry, readings from classic novels - not literally read but from memory...another name has popped into my mind, Michael Kitchen.

[Saturn]

Oh yes, Michael Kitchen has a wonderful drawl.

I would love to hear Keats read by someone younger though, not necessarily a younger person, more someone with a voice that conjures up youth and ebullience.