In our occasional Words and Music segment on A Celtic Sojourn, we take poetry, prose, meditations, and pieces of fiction read aloud with complementary music and song. In this segment on loss, grieving and renewal, we choose John O'Donohue's poem - or prayer if you will - "Beannacht," which simply means "blessing" in Gaelic, and we pair it with an Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem set to music, "Crossing the Bar."
John O'Donohue was a Catholic Priest but had left the priesthood by the time of his sudden death in 2008 at the age of 52. I had first been introduced to his writing by his book, "Anam Cara" which means "soul-friend" and explores the writers deep sense of Celtic spirituality which emanated from his love for nature, especially the nature of his beloved Ireland. He also juxtaposes our journey as humans thru nature. His poem "Beannacht" is typical of O'Donohue's ability to capture spiritual essence without even mentioning "the Divine."
The song we have chosen to pair "Beannacht" with is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the renowned 19th century English poet. Tennyson uses the nautical term "crossing the bar" as a metaphor for dying or crossing over. Rani Arbo set it to music, and we have used the version recorded by Vermont singer, Keith Murphy.
"Beannacht" by John O'Donohue
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
The introductory music for our Words and Music segment is Eleanor Plunkett, written by Turlough O'Carolan (1670 - 1738) and performed by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (1950-2018). It is taken from the album, Lament.
