A little bird sings
In the surrounding darkness
Only crickets chirp
The fireflies dance and die
My God it’s full of stars
link: glow of fireflies in the twilight to fireflies dance and die.
“My God it’s full of stars” is from Arthur C. Clarke’s Novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although widely believed to have been said in the movie, it actually wasn’t. I refer here to things I thought I heard, but were not actually said. That seems to happen to me a lot nowadays. I don’t like it.
I wrote a new song, that I hope to debut at Feast of Eagles (if the Shire allows it). The tune is Palestinalied (12th century). Here is an example of the tune and original words.
The Falcon’s Cry
by Ki no Kotori
Calontiri, gather ‘round me
Tuck your tender tears away,
Battle calls, we must be ready
To march in and join the fray
Turn your eyes unto the sky
Listen for the falcon’s cry
Thus we live and thus we die
Fierce Huscarls, sharpen your axes
Gallant Fyrdmen, whet your swords
Knights, prepare your best advances
Courage brings its own rewards
For this green and fertile plain
That we may ne’er see again
Our lives will not be in vain
Riders, rally forth your horses
Archers, nock your arrows clean
Artisans, walk proud beside us
Hasten forward with our Queen
For our proud and gracious land
As one people now we stand
Waiting for our King’s command
Forward now, shoulder to shoulder
Lift your shield and set your spear
Though the enemy grows bolder
Their onslaught shall endeth here
Turn your eyes unto the sky
Listen for the falcon’s cry
Thus we live and thus we die
Just for fun, here’s a modern rendition of the original Palastinalied, by the band In Extremo:
From a question on the SCA Japanese Facebook page about early Japanese music, someone mentioned poetry being chanted. My answer:
Poetry was originally chanted or sung in an art called Shigin 詩吟. It started out with the Chinese poetry, but spread to Japanese styles like tanka. I don’t know a lot about it, but here is a video with a bit of explanation. If you search for “shigin” on YouTube, there are several modern performances. The practice dates back to before the Asuka period, but I’m not sure how much it changed over time. Certainly something to look into!
Here’s a performance from the 46th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival 2013 @ JCCCNC in San Francisco Japantown on April 13, 2013. There are several other examples on YouTube.
There are examples of Chinese poems with pitch notation from the Heian period. Again, I’m not sure when the practice spread to Japanese-style poetry, and I don’t know how much the practice was refined during the Edo period, and if pre-Edo Shigin was significantly different from what is practiced now. I would certainly be interested in learning more about it.
A passionate heart
Cannot help but share its joy
Gladness overflows
Refreshing the spirit like
A fountain in summertime
Link: progression of the idea of superlatives: echoing to overflowing.
Kansas City, near which I live, is called “The City of Fountains”. They are to be found everywhere here, even out in the suburbs. Medieval Japanese poetry did not utilize fountains much–brooks and streams are more commonly found. However, I wanted to reflect what I see around me, so I chose to use fountains instead.
Foxeholly 