The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
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Ode: Intimations of immortality from recollections of early childhood
By William Wordsworth

Narrated by Denis Daly

This poem consists of eleven stanzas of varying length,  the first four of which were composed in 1802.  These deal with the subject of death,  a concept with which Wordsworth confesses to having struggled with in childhood. This section ends with two questions:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?

In 1804. Wordsworth composed a further seven stanzas which present his answer to these questions.  His conclusion is:
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.

The complete Ode was published in 1807, and a final revised version in 1815.

While some reviewers, notably Lord Byron and John Ruskin, dismissed the poem as being of little value, it is today regarded as one of Wordworth's greatest works.

Ode - Intimations Of Immortality Sample

The Yellow Wallpaper
By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Read by Freya Hansen

"The Yellow Wallpaper"  is a short story by American feminist writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and was first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine.

The story takes the form of a journal. A woman is diagnosed by her physician husband as suffering from temporary nervous depression.  The couple move into an old mansion,  occupying principally  a nursery room with yellow wallpaper.  To accelerate her recuperation, the woman  is instructed to avoid working or writing, to eat well and  get plenty of fresh air.

The narrator becomes obsessed with the patterns in the wallpaper behind which the narrator begins to believe a woman is trapped.

This recording was first published by Librivox on 26th April 2015.

Short Ghost and Horror Collection 026

The Yellow Wallpaper

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The Mask of Anarchy
By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Narrated by Denis Daly

On 16 August 1819, a crowd of about 60,000 people gather at Manchester in a peaceful demonstration to demand reform of the parliamentary electoral system.

The government of the day interpreted the gathering as an act of rebellion and ordered the militia to disperse the crowd.  In the resulting fracas fifteen demonstrators were killed and several hundred injured.

The immediate reaction of the government to repress the the movement for reform.  However, eventually, after a decade of negative reaction from the public, the reform bills of the early 1830's were passed, which led to significant  improvements in the lives of the working class.

Shelly was living at Leghorn at the time of the massacre, and the news of the massacre roused his fiery republican sentiments.  The result was The Mask Of Anarchy, a rousing call to action on behalf of the oppressed.

The Mask of Anarchy

The Mask of Anarchy sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com
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Moby Dick
Or The Whale

By Herman Melville

Presented by Voices of Today

Moby Dick, which has been considered as the great American novel, was first published in 1851. For material Melville drew on his experience on whaling ships between 1841 and 1844, the sinking of the whaling vessel Essex in 1820, and extensive perusal of literature on whaling and many other subjects.

The narrator, Ishmael, travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts, to join the crew for a whaling voyage.   The ship, the Pequod, is commanded by the eccentric and intimidating Captain Ahab, who is obsessed by a desire to hunt down the white whale which, in a previous encounter, had caused Ahab to lose a leg. The voyage commences favourably but is impelled towards disaster by the captain's maniacal ambition to find and kill his marine adversary. 

The narrative is enriched by songs, descriptions of Ishamel's encounters with members of the multiracial crew  and detailed observations on cetology. Although there is no romantic subplot, and few of the characters are women,  Moby Dick, in its reach and presentation,  can be seen as one of the most operatic of novels.  As a compelling exploration of obsessive ambition and its tragic consequences it ranks with Macbeth, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus and the Book of Genesis.

Cast
Ishmael - Jeff Moon
Ahab - Ron Altman
Stubb - Marty Krz
Starbuck - Adam Skousen
Flask - Curt Bonnem
Queequeg - Dean Delp
Father Mapple - John Burlinson
Pip - Joan DuKore

Also featuring the voices of Jennifer Fournier, Justin Price, Tom Saer, Ben Stevens, Joseph Tabler and Bob Gonzalez.

Tunes for songs composed by Marty Krz

Audio edited by Denis Daly

Moby Dick sample

The complete audiobook is availble for purchase at Audible.com:
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Poems of Sentiment and Reflection
By William Wordsworth

Narrated by Denis Daly

William Wordsworth belonged to a chosen band of poets for whom poetry was a priesthood, which is displayed by his unerring devotion to his art. He nourished his unique poetic gift by daily intimacy with Nature. It is Wordworth’s peculiar achievement to reveal the impulses at work behind the outward beauty of Nature, and to manifest its sustaining influence upon the spirit of man. 

The 41 poems in this collection cover a range of subjects but all reflect Wordsworth's fundamental philosophy that poetry should be the embodiment of emotion recollected in tranquility.

Poems Of Sentiment And Reflection Sample

The complete audiobook is available at Audible.com:
voicesoftoday.net/eyre

Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Brontë
Narrated by Robin Siegerman, Blaise Doran, Graham Scott, Mai Ling Turner, Denis Daly, Alexandra Lee Smith and Jen Smith

First published in 1847, Jane Eyre was the last and most popular of the novels composed by the Brontë sisters. The narrative bristles with energy and passionate conviction, and is one of the first novels written from the perspective of a child.

Jane is an orphan, raised in the household of an unsympathetic aunt, who shows great favor to her own children—but not to Jane. Jane is soon sent to a boarding school, presided over by the harsh and tyrannical Mr. Brocklehurst. She completes her education and works for two years as a teacher before applying to be governess at Thornfield Hall, a rural mansion in Yorkshire.

There, Jane and the master, Edward Rochester, fall in love. A wedding is planned. But the ceremony is interrupted by a claim that Rochester is already married....

Jane flees over the moor. She spends the little money she has saved, and finds herself homeless and starving in an unfamiliar town. Jane is taken in by the Rivers, who nurse her back to health, and an alternative future begins to unfold. But the voice of Rochester continues calling to her....

Jane Eyre Sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Lady-Susan-Audiobook/B0DCGJKYWK

Lady Susan
By Jane Austen
Narrated by Linda Barrans, Denis Daly, Catherine Bilson

This epistolary novel was probably written in 1794, but was not published until 1871.

Lady Susan Vernon, middle-aged and recently widowed, has retained her looks and appealing vivacity. She makes use of her bereavement and her loss of wealth by imposing herself on the hospitality of relatives, and by amusing herself in flirtation with the various men who fall under her spell.

Lady Susan has a daughter, Frederica, who is bashful and innocent—in stark contrast to her unfeeling and manipulative mother. Her mother is anxious to marry Frederica off to a spouse of appropriate wealth and social standing, and also, perhaps, to capture a new mate for herself.

The forty-one letters between the various parties in this tale of twisted courtship describe Lady Susan’s path to marital satisfaction for her daughter and herself.

Lady Susan Sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
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The Hardy Boys Mysteries - Volume 1

By Franklin W. Dixon

Narrated by Gary D. MacFadden

Franklin W. Dixon was a pseudonym used by several authors writing series books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, including The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew series.

This collection introduces The Hardy Boys, two teenage brothers who hope to follow in the footsteps of their father, a famous private detective. Frank and Joe live with their parents in Bayport, a small village on the east coast.

In The Tower Treasure, the boys discover the truth behind the theft of securities and jewels from the Tower Mansion in Bayport.

In The House On The Cliff, the brothers foil a smuggling ring that is using an abandoned house near town.

In The Secret of the Old Mill, Frank and Joe are tricked into accepting counterfeit money while waiting at the train station. They follow clues to uncover the counterfeiting operation at an abandoned flour mill near Bayport.

The Hardy Boys Mysteries Sample

The complete audio book is available for sale at Audible.com:
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The Rape of the Lock

A Heroi-comical poem

By Alexander Pope

Edited and with an introduction by Thomas W. Parrott

Read by Denis Daly

Alexander Pope was celebrated for his command of classical Greek and produced seminal translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Prior to the preparation of these translations, Pope took advantage of his mastery of the classical style and also his waspish wit to compose a burlesque epic about the theft of a lock of hair. The incident that inspired Pope was related to him by his friend John Caryll. Lord Petre had cut off a lock of the hair of Arabella Fermor, whom he was courting at the time, without asking the lady's permission. Pope mockingly compares the theft of the lock of hair with the capture of Helen by Paris, the event that set off the Trojan War.

This recording includes the first version of the poem, which is in two cantos, and the final version which has five cantos.


The Rape of the Lock_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/eae3n8

The Secret of the Caves
By Franklin W. Dixon

Narrated by Gary D. MacFadden

The Secret of the Caves is the seventh novel in The Hardy Boys mystery stories series.
At their home in Bayport Frank and Joe and Fenton, receive a visitor who informs them that Professor Morgan Todd from Kenworthy College has disapperared. At the time Fenton is working on security for a coastal radar station, which is under construction. The boys visit the college and are informed that the professor is away in Europe.  However,  the boys become suspicious, and their investigations lead them to Honeycomb Caves in Rockaway, where they uncover a plot to disrupt the operation of the radar station.



The Secret of the Caves_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
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Poems by Robert Herrick

By Robert Herrick
Evan Blackmore - introduction

Narrated by Evan Blackmore

This collection contains 201 lively little poems by the most playful of English Golden Age writers, Robert Herrick.

All his favorite pieces are here: Delight in Disorder, Corinna's Going A-Maying, To the Virgins to Make Much of Time, To Anthea Who May Command him Anything, To Daffodils, The Night-Piece to Julia, and many others.


Poems by Robert Herrick_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/oind6

The Pageants
By William Shakespeare

Comprising multicast performances of Henry V and Henry VIII

Shakespeare’s history plays fall into two categories: political dramas and propagandistic pageants. The second category is comprised of the two plays in this presentation, Henry V and Henry VIII.

These two plays have many elements in common. An underlying theme is the necessity and glory of government by sovereign royalty. Each play is presented by a chorus, who defines the action and intent of the drama. Rather than a continuous narrative the action is depicted in a series of tableaux, each of which seeks to illustrate a positive aspect of the monarch’s character. In each play an early part of the action involves the detection of treason and the punishment of the malefactors, presented as examples of the king’s shrewdness and rigorous sense of justice.

Henry V, originally titled The Life of Henry the Fifth, tells the story of the king’s successful incursion into France to regain control of the territories claimed by the English crown, and his consolidation of his position by marrying the daughter of the King of France. Despite its references to the horror of military conflict, the mood of the play is generally bright and upbeat, although in the final speech the Chorus warns that much of this glory will be lost under the rule of Henry VI.

Henry VIII, first published as The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth, was a joint production by Shakespeare and John Fletcher. It appears to have been written in 1612-1613. During a production of the play at the Globe Theatre in 1613, a cannon was discharged, resulting in a fire which burned the building to the ground. The action of Henry VIII focuses on three major events: The allegation of treason against the Duke of Buckingham, and his subsequent conviction and execution; Henry’s concern over the failure of his wife Katharine of Aragon to produce a male heir, his desire to divorce her and to marry the much younger Anne Bullen (Boleyn); and the birth of Anne’s child, the future Queen Elizabeth I. All references to Anne Bullen’s fall from grace and execution and to Henry’s subsequent marriages are strictly avoided. Henry is presented as a thoughtful and capable sovereign, somewhat overbearing, but genuinely troubled by the thought that his marriage to Katharine may have been canonically improper.

Featuring Blaise Doran as Henry V and Josh Innerst as Henry VIII.

Audio edited by Denis Daly.

The Pageants_sample

The complete audiobook can be purchased at Audible .com:
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The Girls
By Edna Ferber

Narrated by Martha H. Weller

The Girls is the story of three spinsters living in Chicago—an aunt, her niece, and her niece’s niece. The aunt has memories of the Civil War, and all three women have adjusted to the outbreak of the First World War. Generational changes, particularly in regard to romantic attachments, are a central feature of the book, which is also a fascinating portrait of the Chicago lifestyle of the time. The emerging political and social power of women is also a significant feature of the story.


The Girls_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
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Memory:
How to Develop, Train and Use It
By William Walker Atkinson

Narrated by Denis Daly

Although the many works of New Thought author William Walker Atkinson (1862-1932) have generally been classified as self-help texts, their true focus tends to be self-development.

This book on memory is not a catalogue of mnemonic techniques but rather a survey of its whole structure and operation. In the first chapter, Atkinson writes: "We see that the cultivation of memory is far more than the cultivation and development of a single mental faculty—it is the cultivation and development of our entire mental being—the development of our selves."

Memory_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/ihyo2

Cynthia Wakeham's Money
By Anna Katharine Green

Narrated by Bonnie Trost

This classic crime novel features the detective Ebenezer Grice, one of Anna Katherine Green's recurring characters.A young lawyer is summoned to draw up the will of an elderly and infirm woman. She directs that all her property be bequeathed to her sister. At the end of the consultation, the woman dies. When the heir goes missing, it is suspected that the woman's death was not due to natural causes. Further investigation reveals that the woman and her sister were trapped in a reclusive lifestyle by a promise exacted by their uncaring and overbearing father. Each woman had a lover whom she wished to marry, but the unions were frustrated by the demands of the father. A major sinister figure is the woman's brother, who stands to gain from the death of the sister.

Cynthia Wakeham's Money_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com.
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On Our Selection
By Steele Rudd

Narrated by Gregory Dwyer

On Our Selection is a collection of humorous short stories by Australian author Steele Rudd. It follows the trials and tribulations of the Rudd family, pioneers carving out a living in the Australian bush. The book humorously depicts the struggles of farming life, the resilience of the settlers, and the quirks of rural Australian society.



On Our Section Sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Kobo.com:
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The Complete Love Sonnets of Michael Drayton
by Michael Drayton

Narrated by Evan Blackmore

As he himself said, Drayton’s sonnets are the most “sportive” of the great Elizabethan love poems, “ever in motion,” by turns “wild, madding, jocund, and irregular,” yet maintaining a universality and sturdy good sense that have spoken to the hearts of hearers and readers for four centuries. This recording includes in full not only his famous final collection, Idea (1619), but also the earlier Idea’s Mirror (1594), as well as the various love sonnets that he wrote on other occasions.


The Complete Love Sonnets of Michael Drayton_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/lcn3y8

The Real Jefferson Davis 
By Landon Knight

Narrated by Ron Altman

Jefferson Davis (1808 - 1889) was an American politician who became president of the Confederate States during the Civil War.  He took his seat in Congress as the representative for Mississippi in 1847. As a Democrat, Davis was an enthusiastic supporter of the expansion of slavery. In 1861 he resigned from the Senate when the state of Mississippi seceded. During the Civil War Davis acted as chief executive and commander in chief for the Confederacy. After the war, he was captured and charged with treason. He was imprisoned for two years but was released under the terms of a general pardon from President Andrew Johnson before his case had come to court.  In later years he supported himself with speaking tours and involvement in various business enterprises. 

Because of his agressive advocacy for the continuation of slavery, today Davis is not generally viewed favourably.  Many of the memorials to him have been removed in recent years.  This disapprobation has obscured Davis' undoubted abilities as politician and the extent of his influence as a notable public figure of his time. 

therealjeffersondavis_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/2nmll

A Manual of Buddhism
By Dudley Wright

Narrated by Oberon Michaels

Buddhism has a vast array of scriptures but a relatively small body of essential doctrines. In this short treatise, the author presents a systematic introduction to Buddhist teaching, commencing with a discussion of the Noble Eightfold Path. Other topics include the Buddhist views of God and enlightenment, and the practice of Buddhism in the world of today.

Dudley Wright (1868-1949) wrote extensively on a wide variety of religious subjects and was also active as an investigator of the paranormal. He was a practising Freemason, who believed that all religions shared a common basis.

Manual of Buddhism_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/trkcww

The Eureka Stockade
By Raffaello Carboni

Narrated by Gregory Dwyer

A firsthand account of the 1854 Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Carboni, an Italian revolutionary and participant in the uprising, wrote the book to document the miners’ struggle against the colonial authorities. The story captures the miners’ frustrations over oppressive mining licenses, police corruption, and lack of representation. It details the events leading up to the violent clash at the Eureka Stockade, where miners built a makeshift fort and confronted government troops. Although the rebellion was crushed, it became a significant symbol of resistance and led to reforms in mining laws and democratic rights. Carboni’s narrative offers a passionate, personal perspective on the fight for justice and equality.

The Eureka Stockade Sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
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The Last of the Bushrangers
An Account of the Capture of the Kelly Gang
By Francis Augustus Hare
Narrated by Gregory Dwyer

The book is written in the first person, giving a detailed, autobiographical account of Hare’s experiences as a superintendent in the Victorian Mounted Police, particularly during the pursuit and final capture of the Kelly Gang. Hare’s account offers insights into the social and criminal landscape of colonial Victoria, the operations of the police force, and the complexities of pursuing outlaws who were both feared and, by some, romanticized.



The Last Of The Bushrangers Sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
https://n9.cl/26n9d

One Poet, One Poem

Narrated by Evan and Marie Blackmore

This collection includes favorite English-language poems by 178 favorite authors, beginning with Sir Philip Sidney and the Countess of Pembroke in Elizabethan times, and ending with T. S. Eliot and Marianne Moore in the twentieth century. Cavaliers and Puritans, a famous king and a pilloried criminal, soulful lovers and sharp-witted satirists, Shakespeare and Jonson, Milton and Marvell, David Garrick and Rabindranath Tagore, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Christina Rossetti—all are here, in one constantly changing kaleidoscope of brilliant verse.

One Poet - One Poem_sample

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com:
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The Twins of Emu Plains
By Mary Grant Bruce

Narrated by Lyndal Curran Doolan

Twins Jean and Jo Weston are fifteen-year-old country girls who are just finishing their first year at boarding school in Melbourne. They receive bad news from their father: due to drought the farm at Emu Plains is struggling, and next year they will need to stay home and help around the property. They will also be required to tutor their little brother, Billy.

But just before they leave for home, Helen Forester, their school captain, makes a suggestion. Her little brother Rex will need looking after during the next year, and Emu Plains might be just the place for him. Helen says that her wealthy parents, who live overseas, would be willing to cover any expenses and Rex could be an ideal chum for Billy. The girls conclude an arrangement with Mrs. Forrester, but without telling their parents.

The scene is set for a tumultuous return home and a tremendous battle with the ongoing drought, a common feature of rural life in Australia.



The Twins of Emu Plains_sample

A recording of the classic hermetic text written by "Three Initiates."  One of these is believed to have been the extremely prolific New Thought author William Walker Atkinson.

The Kybalion

13 - Chapter 13 - Gender

12 - Chapter 12 - Causation

11 - Chapter 11 - Rhythm

04 - Chapter 4 - The All

03 - Chapter 3 - Mental Transmutation

02 - Chapter 2 - The Seven Hermetic Principles

01 - Chapter 1 - The Hermetic Philosophy

00- Introduction

THE GOSPEL OF (ACCORDING TO) THOMAS
by Didymus Jude Thomas ca. A.D.75-100.

Translated by Wim van den Dungen,
Antwerp, 1997.

Text copyright Wim van den Dungen,
Antwerp, 2014.

Recording by Denis Daly for Voices of Today
with the kind permission of the translator.

This recording may be distributed freely for non-commercial purposes.

Note by translator:
The present English translation has been inspired by the work of Doresse (1959, 1986), Robinson (1977), Blatz (1987), Dietzfelbinger (1988), Layton (1987),
Quispel (1991), Meyer (1992) and Slavenburg & Glaudemans (1994).

The Gospel of Thomas

The Last Chronicle of Barset
by Anthony Trollope

Narrated by Steve Gough

A wonderful study of its central character, the proud, irascible, tormented, poverty-stricken clergyman, Josiah Crawley, who pays a heavy price for his human failings when he is brought to trial for the alleged theft of a cheque for twenty pounds. The trial is the source of much grief for his long-suffering family, not least his wife Mary and daughter Grace (the novel's romantic heroine), whilst the Reverend Crawley reminds us more and more of a mad King Lear on the heath. 

This recording was first published by Librivox on June 6th, 2017.

XLIV. 'I suppose I must let you have it.'

Love poems 

By D H Lawrence

Presented by Voices of Today

In 1912 D.H. Lawrence fell in love with Frieda Weekley and the couple left for Germany and Italy, where they spent the next two years. While he was away from England, Lawrence completed and published the novel Sons and Lovers and his first volume of poetry, Love Poems and others. Mostly autobiographical, the collection explores a young man's feelings on the joys and frustrations of sex and love. The thirty poems in the collection include the memorable short poem, Bei Hennef, as well as four longer narrative poems written in Lawrence's Nottinghamshire dialect.  

Featuring the voices of Erin Louttit, Linda Barrans, Phil Benson and Ron Altman.

This recording may be freely downloaded and distributed, provided that Voices of Today is credited as the author.  It can be edited and used for the development of derivative material as long as the new recording is issued under an equivalent Creative Commons licence. It may not be used for commercial purposes.

For further information about Voices of Today please visit: 
https://www.voicesoftoday.org/

Love Poems and Others

Lilies in the Fire

Voices of Today provides services in audiobook narration and production.

The proprietor is Denis Daly who is a professional audiobook narrators and producer.   He has provided narration and editing services for many projects at Librivox.org and Legamus.eu. He is also a founding member of Rhapsodize,  a group which promotes the performance and recording of classic poetry.  Currently, he has over 300 titles in the catalogue at Audible.com, and several more recordings are under production.

Voices of Today is supported by a group of admins: Jennifer Fournier, Susan Iannucci, Lee Ann Howlett and Amy Soakes, all of whom are also professional narrators and whose recordings can be found at Audible.com.

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