Vivaldi's Spring

[This is the explanatory sonnet Antonio Vivaldi wrote to preface the "Spring" Concerto, part of the "Four Seasons" Cycle.]

ALLEGRO
Spring has arrived,
And joyfully the birds greet her with glad song,
[FLOWING STREAMS]/LEGATO
While at the Zephyr's* breath
The streams flow forth with a sweet murmur.

Her chosen heralds, thunder and lightning,
Come to envelop the air in a black cloak;
Once they have fallen silent, the little birds
Return anew to their melodious incantation.

LARGO
Then on the pleasant, flower-bedecked meadows,
To the happy murmur of fronds and plants,
The goatherd sleeps next to his trusty dog.

ALLEGRO
To the festive sound of rustic bagpipes
Nymphs and shepherds dance beneath
The beloved sky
At the glorious appearance of spring.
----Antonio Vivaldi

*Zephyr: the warm west wind

April

An altered look about the hills;
A Tyrian* light the village fills;
A wider sunrise in the dawn;
A deeper twilight on the lawn;**
. . .An added strut in chanticleer***;
A flower expected everywhere;
An axe singing in the wood;
Fern-odors on untraveled roads,
---All this, and more I cannot tell,
A furtive look you know as well,
And Nicodemus' mystery
Receives its annual reply.****
---Emily Dickinson, Book III [Nature], #49
*Tyrian Purple, a rich crimson or purple dye made in the ancient city of Tyre
**Spring changes the angle of light & the look of light, esp. at sunrise and sunset. The first part of the poem celebrates purplish April dawn & dusk hues.
***A rooster. Originally an older Middle English word coming from Old French, now used in poetic verse
****John 3:4. Nicodemus asks Jesus how a man can be "born again." In John 3:13-16, Jesus makes clear that rebirth and the accompanying eternal life come through Him being "lifted up" (crucified), which, itself, came from the Father's great love in sending Jesus.

The Crucifixion

Technically, this is a prose section, but Luther adds a poetic feeling:"Und es war schon um die sechste Stunde, und es kam eine Finsternis über das ganze Land bis zur neunte Stunde, und die Sonne verlor ihren Schein. . ." Luke 23:44-45a. Or, "It was already the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the entire area until the ninth hour. And the Sun lost its [her] shine. . ."

Confessions*

 

1) Though I'm not at all what I'd like to be, 

 I hope you'll understand. . .  

My thoughts and deeds aren't "good as gold":  

They're more like worthless sand. 

 2) So far as east is from the west,  

So far my sin's removed.**  

Embraced by Jesus's perfect grace, 

I know I'm always loved.  

3) My love for God is really true, 

My faith in Him sincere:

Now I reach to others, too,  

4) To show I really care.  

So after a trying day of work,  

When stress just runs away, 

I hope you realize I know inside 

It's still a lovely day! 

 

---Marie Byars, 1986; Ft. Stewart, GA 

 

 *"Confessions" of both sin & faith **Psalm 103:12

sketch accompanying original version in my journal

The "Nature" of Love

[Agapge]* Love is patient and is kind;
Love does not envy;
Love does not boast and is not vain;
It down not behave rudely nor seek its own way;
It is not provoked and does not think evil;
It does not rejoice in wrong-doing but rejoices in the truth.
[Love] bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love neer fails. . .
And now these three things remain:
Faith, Hope, and Love;
But the greatest of these is Love.
St. Paul, I Corinthians 13: 3-8; 13

* "Agape" is a special type of undeserved Love. God shows it perfectly; we cannot, which is why we are all sinners.
"Happy Valentine's Day!!"

Not "Done" with "Donne"

My mother, Melba, just died on January 12th. She went peacefully in her sleep & is asleep in Jesus. She is released from her dementia (which was actually caused by heart disease, not Alzheimer's). She quite likely had low grade mental issues for many years, from which she is also released. No more on-going physical degradations that came from mini-strokes & a silent heart attack & strained lungs. So I can only say with the poet John Donne, "Death be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so. . .Death, thou, too shalt die!" (You can find the entire poem in earlier posts.) BTW, Melba liked purple.

Vivaldi's Winter

Antonio Vivaldi prefaced each of the "Four Seasons" Concertos with a sonnet. Here's "Winter":

ALLEGRO MOLTO 

To shiver, frozen, amid icy snow

in the bitter blast of a horrible wind; 

to run constantly stamping one's feet; 

and to feel one's teeth chatter

 on account of the excessive cold; 

LARGO 

To spend restful, happy days at the fireside 

while the rain outside drenches a good 100; 

ALLEGRO 

to walk on the ice, and with slow steps

to move about cautiously for fear of falling; 

to go fast, to slip and fall down; ["falling to the ground"] 

to go on the ice again and run fast 

until the ice cracks and opens up;

LENTO ["Sirocco Wind"]

to hear coming out of the iron gates 

ALLEGRO MOLTO 

Sirocco, Boreas and all the winds at war:

that's winter, but of a kind to gladden one's heart. 

---Antonio Vivaldi, 1725