The Grave My Little Cottage Is
The grave my little cottage is, Where, keeping house for thee, I make my parlor orderly, And lay the marble tea, For two divided, briefly, A cycle, it may be, Till everlasting life unite In […]
That It Will Never Come Again
That it will never come again Is what makes life so sweet. Believing what we don’t believe Does not exhilarate. That if it be, it be at best An ablative estate— This instigates an appetite […]
The Moon is Distant from the Sea
The moon is distant from the sea, And yet with amber hands She leads him, docile as a boy, Along appointed sands. He never misses a degree; Obedient to her eye, He comes just so […]
I Never Saw a Moor
I never saw a moor, I never saw the sea; Yet know I how the heather looks, And what a wave must be. I never spoke with God, Nor visited in heaven; Yet certain am […]
Program Notes: Six Dickinson Poems (Song Cycle)
By Emily Lau Voice, violin, harp I found Emily Lau’s album, Isle of Lucidity, while searching the internet for voice and harp music. I was so moved by the first track, “I Believe,” that I […]
The Vision of Deirdre
At her birth, a druid prophesies that Deirdre will be the most beautiful woman in the world. He warns, however, that if she is not killed immediately, her beauty will cause the downfall of her […]
Hame Oor Bottachan, Hame Cam’ He
This song was sung at the end of a waulking — a rhythmic, labor-intensive process of cloth-making that involves applying force to cloth, particularly wool, to make the fibers thicker and softer. Waulking songs are […]
The Daughter of Maeve
Queen Maeve, jealous of the love of Fraoch for her daughter, sends him on a deadly quest for rowan berries that grow above the dragon’s mouth. Maeve’s daughter, guided by love, delivers a golden blade […]
Seal Woman’s Sea-Joy
Scotland is full of legends of the selkie, an enchanted being that lives most of her life as a seal and comes to shore every so often to shed her seal skin and to mate […]
Heroic Ossianic Chant (Aillte)
Aillte is a warrior who, while traveling as a mercenary, falls in love with the wife of the powerful King of Lochlin. They run away together, taking refuge with the Fayne, Aillte’s clan in the […]