I sing in a local choir and at the moment we are preparing for a Christmas Concert. We normally sing in English, but occasionally we sing in other languages, and are quite used to not completely understanding the words, but just having a good, general gist of what we are singing about.
However, one of the songs we have planned to sing at Christmas is causing more than a bit of discussion. The words that have been set to music are a poem by Charles Causley, and it is written in English. And the discussion is about what it means. We seem to ebb and flow, thinking we have grasped the meaning and then seem to lose it. Normally it wouldn’t be an issue, but it seems to matter this time as there is a general consensus that we like it - and because we like it, we want to get to the bottom of it.
See what you make of it. I have published the words below.
Sailor’s Carol
Lord the snowful sky
In this pale December
Fingers my clear eye
Lest seeing I remember
Not the naked babe
Weeping in the stable
Nor the singing boys
All round my table
Not the dizzy star
Bursting on the pane
Nor the leopard sun
Pawing the rain
Only the deep garden
Where green lilies grow
The sailors rolling in
The sea’s blue snow
I felt the need to try to unravel it for myself. For what it is worth, here are my thoughts. Continue Reading »
Tags: carol, Charles Causley, choir, Christmas, death, December, garden, grave, imagery, leopard, lilies, memories, memory, Sailor's Carol, sea, singing, snow, storm