les Davey de France

Step softly, under snow or rain,     To find the place where men can pray; The way is all so very plain     That we may lose the way. Oh, we have learnt to peer and pore     On tortured puzzles from our youth, We know all labyrinthine lore, We are the three wise men of yore,     And we know all things but the truth. We have gone round and round the hill     And lost the wood among the trees, And learnt long names for every ill, And served the mad gods, naming still     The furies the Eumenides. The gods of violence took the veil     Of vision and philosophy, The Serpent that brought all men bale, He bites his own accursed tail,     And calls himself Eternity. Go humbly…it has hailed and snowed…     With voices low and lanterns lit; So very simple is the road,     That we may stray from it. The world grows terrible and ...

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Chinese people look cool when singing action songs. How do they do that ?

Listen to it read by the author here . Journey Of The Magi T. S. Eliot ‘A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’ And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet. Then the camel men cursing and grumbling And running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly. Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a ...

We're singing this as a sort of warm-up before the service. Our alleluia sectuions are a bit more energetic !

As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don't know We don't know.

I think of George VI's famous Christmas message, delivered in 1939, at the outbreak of war. je pense au célèbre message de Noël du Roi George VI, diffusé en 1939 au commencement de la guerre. The link gives a recording . Le lien donne un enrégistrement mais il cite ce poème : J'ai dit au gardien de la porte de l'année : "Donnez -moi une lampe Pour aller sans danger vers l'inconnu." Et il m'a répondu : "Avance dans la nuit Et met ta main dans la main de Dieu. Ce sera mieux qu'une lampe Et plus sûr qu'un chemin connu."

Until recently I didn't really appreciate this poem. Now the combination of simple, earthy, banal terms like "snow had fallen, snow on snow" and amazing, imponderable expressions like "cherubim and seraphim thronged the air" seems to capture something of the wonder of the birth of God as a baby in a stable. In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, Long ago. Our God, heaven cannot hold him, Nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away When he comes to reign; In the bleak midwinter A stable place sufficed The Lord God almighty, Jesus Christ. Enough for him, whom cherubim Worship night and day A breast full of milk And a manger full of hay. Enough for him, whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel which adore. Angels and archangels May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air; ...

Ganol gaeaf noethlwm Cwynai’r rhewynt oer, Ffrid a ffrwd mewn cloeon Llonydd dan y lloer. Eira’n drwm o fryn i dref, Eira ar dwyn a dôl, Ganol gaeaf noethlwm Oes bell yn ôl. Metha nef a daear Gynnwys ein Duw; Ciliant hwy a darfod Pan fydd Ef yn Llyw. Ganol gaeaf noethlwm Digon feudy trist I’r Arglwydd Hollalluog Iesu Grist. Beth a roddaf iddo, Llwm a thlawd fy myd? Petawn fugail, rhoddwn Orau’r praidd i gyd; Pe bawn un o’r doethion, Gwnawn fy rhan ddi-goll; Ond pa beth a roddaf? Fy mywyd oll.

While shepherds watched their flocks by night, All seated on the ground, The angel of the Lord came down, And glory shone around.   "Fear not," said he, for mighty dread Had seized their troubled minds; "Glad tidings of great joy I bring To you and all mankind.    "To you, in David's town, this day, Is born of David's line A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord; And this shall be the sign:   The heavenly Babe you there shall find To human view displayed, All meanly wrapped in swaddling-bands And in a manger laid."  Thus spake the seraph,--and forthwith Appeared a shining throng Of angels, praising God, who thus Addressed their joyful song:   "All glory be to God on high, And to the earth be peace; Good will henceforth from Heaven to men Begin and never cease."

RIDE on! ride on in majesty! Hark! all the tribes ‘Hosanna’ cry; O Saviour meek, pursue Your road with palms and scattered garments strowed. Ride on, ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die; O Christ, Your triumphs now begin o’er captive death and conquered sin. Ride on, ride on in majesty! The angel armies of the sky look down with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice. Ride on, ride on in majesty! Your last and fiercest strife is nigh: the Father on His sapphire throne awaits His own anointed Son. Ride on! ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die; bow Your meek head to mortal pain, then take, O God, Your power, and reign. Henry Hart Milman, 1791-1868

This became the wan "If you go away" in English, where someone tries to persude their better half not to leave on a business trip or to go and look after Grandma for the afternoon. "Don't leave me" is MILES better than "don't go away from me"

SEE how great a flame aspires, kindled by a spark of grace! Jesu’s love the nations fires, sets the kingdoms on a blaze; fire to bring on earth He came; kindled in some hearts it is: O that all might catch the flame, all partake the glorious bliss! 2 When He first the work begun, small and feeble was His day: now the word does swiftly run, now it wins its widening way; more and more it spreads and grows, ever mighty to prevail; sin’s strongholds it now o’erthrows, shakes the trembling gates of hell. 3 Sons of God, your Saviour praise; He the door has opened wide, He has given the word of grace, Jesu’s word is glorified; Jesus, mighty to redeem, He alone the work has wrought; worthy is the work of Him, Him who spake a world from nought. 4 Saw ye not the cloud arise, little as a human hand? Now it spreads along the skies, hangs o’er all the thirsty land; lo! the promise of a shower drops already from above; but the Lord will shortly pour all the Spirit of His love. Charles Wesley, 1707-8...

Strange how different two songs can be.

You will have observed that I like music. Like a true Brit this is utilitarian. Music for me is useful as medicine for the mind. When I am on the edge a short burst of a well-chosen piece of music can just make the difference between being a blubbering wreck or a gibbering idiot. Today two pieces on the eternal theme of the gnu. First Bach's sublime and comforting aria from the funeral cantata "Ich habe genug", or I have a gnu. On the point of death the singer consoles himself that he has the love of his gnu, and nobody can take that from him. Song doesn't get any better than this. Bach has it all. Later composers will make adjustments here and there, but probably Bach still does it better. This is a lovely performance by the bass and the organist is moved beyond expression, as you will see.

http://solapanel.org/article/church_music/#When:23:00:00Z While "Songs of Praise" rejoiced in broadcasting See him lying on a bed of straw we found that visitors to our carol services wanted to sing O come all ye faithful and Hark the herald, and that for visitors services singing familiar hymns helped people to feel at ease. Hhmmm.

When oceans vast their depths reveal, And moons have ceased to wane, The Lamb, who died and rose again, On Zion’s hill shall reign. His glorious name must long endure, When suns have ceased to shine, And through eternity the saints, Will sing His praise divine. As countless as the drops of dew, Or sands upon the shore, Are blessings which the ransomed have, In Him forevermore. Let every other name recede, His name alone extol, In Him reserved there is the grace, To satisfy my soul.

Bogey and the Marseillaise for 14 juillet.

JESUS, Thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, Thou light of men, from the best bliss that earth imparts, we turn unfilled to Thee again. Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood; Thou savest those that on Thee call; to them that seek Thee Thou art good, to them that find Thee, all in all. We taste Thee, O Thou living bread, and long to feast upon Thee still; we drink of Thee, the fountain-head, and thirst our souls from Thee to fill. Our restless spirits yearn for Thee where’er our changeful lot is cast; glad when Thy gracious smile we see; blest when our faith can hold Thee fast. O Jesus, ever with us stay; make all our moments calm and bright; chase the dark night of sin away; shed o’er our souls Thy holy light. Bernard of Clairvaux(?), 1091-1153