again
people come and people go – the earth goes on and on
the sun rises, the sun sets – it rushes to where it rises again
the wind blows round, round and round – it stops, it blows again
all the rivers rush to the seas, but the sea is never full – from where the rivers run they run again
these things make me so tired – I can’t speak, I can’t see, I can’t hear
what happened before will happen again
i forgot it all before
I will forget it all again
– David Lang, after Ecclesiastes
Heu mihi, Domine
Heu mihi, Domine,
quia peccavi nimis in vita mea,
quid faciam miser,
ubi fugiam,
nisi ad te, Deus meus?
Dum veneris in novissimo die,
miserere mei.
Woe is me, O Lord,
for I have sinned so greatly in my life.
What am I, poor one, to do,
where am I to flee,
if not to you, my God?
When you come on the last day of all,
have mercy on me.
– Responsory for the Office of the Dead
Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord:
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
– Hymn, Preface of the Mass Ordinary (Isaiah 6:3, Matthew 21:9)
When the Violin
When
The violin
Can forgive the past
It starts singing.
When the violin can stop worrying
About the future
You will become
Such a drunk laughing nuisance
That God
Will then lean dow
And start combing you into
Her
Hair.
When the violin can forgive
Every wound caused by
Others
The heart starts
Singing.
– Hafiz, The Gift (tr. Daniel Ladinsky)
We bloomed in Spring
We
bloomed in Spring.
Our bodies
are the leaves of God.
The apparent seasons of life and death
our eyes can suffer;
but our souls, dear. I will just say this forthright:
they are God
Himself,
we will never perish
unless He
does.
– Teresa of Avila from Love Poems from God, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.
Lobet den Herrn
Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, und preiset ihn, alle Völker!
Denn seine Gnade und Wahrheit waltet über uns in Ewigkeit. Alleluja.
Praise the Lord, all heathens, and laud him, all peoples.
For his grace and truth rules over us into eternity. Hallelujah.
– Psalm 117:1-2
The Twelfth Madrigal
sung by The Westminster Choir at the memorial service for Samuel Barber
(The Man in the Castle on his death-bed, surrounded by the Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore.)
Oh foolish people who feign to feel what other men have suffered.
You, not I, are the indifferent killers of the poet's dreams.
How could I destroy the pain wrought children of my fancy?
What would my life have been without their faithful and harmonious company?
Unicorn, My youthful foolish Unicorn, please do not hide, come close to me.
And you, my Gorgon, behind whose splendor I hid the doubts of my midday, you, too, stand by.
And here is my shy and lonely Manticore, who gracefully leads me to my grave.
Farewell. Equally well I loved you all.
Although the world may not suspect it,
all remains intact within the Poet's heart.
Farewell. Not even death I fear as in your arms I die.
Farewell.
– Gian Carlo Menotti
the sense of senses
I can see a door
I can see a wall
I can see a wall
I can see companions
I can see in you
I can see Jerusalem
I can see Lebanon
I can see my dove
I can see that
I can see the bed
I can see the coals
I can see the company
I can see the crown
I can see the doves
I can see the field
I can see the flowers
I can see the fountain
I can see the foxes
I can see the fruit
I can see the fruits
I can see the garden
I can see the garden
I can see the garden
I can see the gold
I can see the green
I can see the hair
I can see the horses
I can see the jealousy
I can see the jewels
I can see the joints
I can see the lions
I can see the marble
I can see the morning
I can see the mountains
I can see the pillars
I can see the pillars
I can see the roe
I can see the rose
I can see the studs
I can see the sun
I can see the swords
I can see the tents
I can see the thousand
I can see the top
I can see the vine
I can see the vineyard
I can see the vineyard
I can see the vineyard
I can see the vineyards
I can see the waters
I can see threescore
I can see Tirzah
I can see virgins
I can see you
I can hear her
I can hear the birds
I can hear you
I can smell the apples
I can smell the bed
I can smell the beds
I can smell the calamus
I can smell the camphire
I can smell the camphire
I can smell the frankincense
I can smell the garments
I can smell the lilies
I can smell the mandrakes
I can smell the myrrh
I can smell the myrrh
I can smell the myrrh
I can smell the myrrh
I can smell the myrrh
I can smell the ointments
I can smell the spices
I can smell the spices
I can smell the spikenard
I can smell the spikenard
I can smell the tender grape
I can smell the wheat
I can smell your good ointments
I can feel the banner
I can feel the day
I can feel the day
I can feel the desire
I can feel the dew
I can feel the fear
I can feel the north wind
I can feel the seal
I can feel the seal
I can feel the shade
I can feel the shadows
I can feel the shadows
I can feel the south wind
I can feel you
I can taste the apples
I can taste the best wine
I can taste the fruit
I can taste the honey
I can taste the honeycomb
I can taste the honeycomb
I can taste the liquor
I can taste the pleasant fruits
I can taste the pleasant fruits
I can taste the pomegranates
I can taste the spiced wine
I can taste the wine
I can taste the wine
I can taste the wine
I can taste you
I can taste you
I can taste your kiss
I can taste your kiss
I can taste your lips
I can taste your lip
I can taste your mouth
I can taste your mouth
I can taste your wine
– David Lang, after Song of Songs
