Wednesday, October 29, 2008

THE TWO TREES


The Two Trees - Loreena McKennitt
Words by William Butler Yeats - (1865 - 1939)
Music by Loreena McKennitt
Uilleann pipe introduction 'Cé Hé Mise Le Ulaingt' composed and performed by
Patrick Hutchinson.

Beloved, gaze in thine own heart,
The holy tree is growing there;
From joy the holy branches start.
And all the trembling flowers they bear.
The changing colours of its fruit
Have dowered the stars with merry light;
The surety of its hidden root
Has planted quiet in the night;
The shaking of its leafy head
Has given the waves their melody,
And made my lips and music wed,
Murmuring a wizard song for thee.
There the Loves a circle go,
The flaming circle of our days,
Gyring, spiring to and fro
In those great ignorant leafy ways;
Remembering all that shaken hair
And how the winged sandals dart,
Thine eyes grow full of tender care
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.

Gaze no more in the bitter glass
The demons, with their subtle guile,
Lift up before us when they pass,
Or only gaze a little while;
For there a fatal image grows
That the stormy night receives,
Roots half hidden under snows,
Broken boughs and blackened leaves.
For all things turn to barrenness
In the dim glass the demons hold,
The glass of outer weariness,
Made when God slept in times of old.
There, through the broken branches, go
The ravens of unresting thought.
Flying, crying, to and fro,
Cruel claw and hungry throat,
Or else they stand and sniff the wind,
And shake their ragged wings; alas!
Thy tender eyes grow all unkind;
Gaze no more in the bitter glass.

Beloved, gaze in thine own heart,
The holy tree is growing there;
From joy the holy branches start,
And all the trembling branches they bear.
Remembering all that shaken hair
And how the winged sandals dart,
Thine eyes grow full of tender care
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.


11 comments:

boneman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I love Uilleann pipes!

darkfoam said...

that's a really beautiful video to go along with this music. so very right for our dear boneman .. :)

Anonymous said...

beauty!

¤ ¤ ¤

/t.

dianne said...

Hi Pete my dear, I love the music of the Uilleann pipes too, must be my Irish ancestry.
I have posted two links for you here, I hope you enjoy them. ♥ :) XO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK9-nQqgHPA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSjmvU_8xLY

dianne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dianne said...

Yes Foamie my dear friend, the video was more than I could hope for when doing my searching, such lovely visions of the sun shining through the greenness of the foliage.
I do love trees and especially this poem and Loreena McKennitt's rendition of it. ♥ :) xoxoxo

dianne said...

Thanks dear /t. , there is much beauty there,in the loveliness of the trees, in the words, the music and her voice. ♥ :) xoxox

The Phosgene Kid said...

Now if that wasn't nice, I don't know what is.

boneman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dianne said...

Thanks Phos my dearest, I'm pleased that you could see how nice it was and see the beauty there. ♥ :)
xoxo