The physical side of getting old is generally about getting stiffer, slower and more wrinkled. I was recently reminded that our voices, also, age with us, and get stiffer, slower and more wrinkled. (And yes, of course I *knew* they did, but I have to confess I didn’t really *know* it.)
At the Woodberry Poetry Room’s Listening Booth you can listen to Denise Levertov in 1960, and then, further down on the same page, in 1986. Hear the voice difference.
Why do I even point this out, since we all *know* we get old, all over, and all at the same time? I don’t really know, but I have been thinking about this particular aspect of aging — of voice — today. I can’t decide which of the Levertov readings I prefer, and whether the change in voice quality has any relevance at all.
Here is Hilda Dootlittle up at Penn Sound reading from Helen In Egypt. A very old voice, but still reading beautifully.
