The Cestello Annunciation by Sandro Botticelli
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord
- Luke 1:48
Annunciation Canticles
Prelude: The Kingdom of March
Now March, the kingdom of contrite concessions
Draws to its end.
Clouds in their mute procession
Filters the light for angels to descend.
Now I, a sinner, this annunciation
Offer my light.
Such is my celebration
For that one light that burns throughout my night.
Beata Viscera
After Perotin
As notes descend and rise a light is born,
A light in darkness peering through the glass
Dividing earth and Heaven. The orient corn
Burgeons gently through the withered grass.
March has its end, its numbered days will pass;
The mourning tapers dwindle in the sand
While Mary bearing Mankind's looking-glass,
Accepts the lily from the angel's hand.
Ave Maria
Bearer of Christ, Hail Mary,
Bright as a burning wick!
Love is the light you carry;
Mine is a candlestick.
- Trondheim, March 25, 2012
Notes:
Beata Viscera: This monophonic musical piece attributed to Pérotin (fl. c.1200) is a celebration of the blessed womb of the Virgin Mary. The poem is an incomplete Spenserian sonnet whose opening lines came to me while the choir performed Beata Viscera.
Orient corn: This is a reference to Thomas Traherne's Centuries of Meditation. The phrase "oriental and immortal wheat" has connotations of a childhood remembered - at least the way it is used by Derek Walcott - and is here an elaborate metaphor for rememberance of childhood.
Mankind's looking-glass: The idea here is that Christ, as a perfect human being, represents a mirror image of the inherently faulty humanity. Christ becomes here the looking-glass in which we may look to find our imperfections reflected by His perfection.
Orient corn: This is a reference to Thomas Traherne's Centuries of Meditation. The phrase "oriental and immortal wheat" has connotations of a childhood remembered - at least the way it is used by Derek Walcott - and is here an elaborate metaphor for rememberance of childhood.
Mankind's looking-glass: The idea here is that Christ, as a perfect human being, represents a mirror image of the inherently faulty humanity. Christ becomes here the looking-glass in which we may look to find our imperfections reflected by His perfection.
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar