by Anne Porter
When I was a child I once sat sobbing on the floor Beside my mother’s piano As she played and sang For there was in her singing A shy yet solemn glory My smallness could not hold
And when I was asked Why I was crying I had no words for it I only shook my head And went on crying
Why is it that music At its most beautiful Opens a wound in us An ache a desolation Deep as a homesickness For some far-off And half-forgotten country
I’ve never understood Why this is so
But there’s an ancient legend From the other side of the world That gives away the secret Of this mysterious sorrow
For centuries on centuries We have been wandering But we were made for Paradise As deer for the forest
And when music comes to us With its heavenly beauty It brings us desolation For when we hear it We half remember That lost native country
We dimly remember the fields Their fragrant windswept clover The birdsongs in the orchards The wild white violets in the moss By the transparent streams
And shining at the heart of it Is the longed-for beauty Of the One who waits for us Who will always wait for us In those radiant meadows
Yet also came to live with us And wanders where we wander.
“Music” by Anne Porter from Living Things: Collected Poems. © Steerforth Press, 2006.
What kind of music moves you the most? Please comment below. I’d love to hear from you.
Comment on this blog here.
Subscribe to this blog here.
I love all kinds of music. I love music that tells a story. Slow meaningful songs. I love Sarah MacClaughlin, her music touchs my heart and my soul. I also love, Il Divo, Celtic Thunder and Josh Grobin. I play these cd’s when I just want to escape and reminisce. They all sing songs that remind me of my past and my present, good times and bad times. It is wonderful that music and poems can do that. That poem I just read reminded me in some ways of myself. It was very nice.
Hi Janet. Thanks for your comment. I love music that tells a story, too. I’m glad you enjoyed the poem.
I love many kinds of music but it is the music itself that most often moves me. Lyrics are nice, kind of aids at participation when one does not play an instrument, but the music is the thing. The closest I ever saw, in prose, was Cordwainer Smith’s “Under Old Earth” and the congohelium.
Thanks, Pierce. I will definitely check out “Under Old Earth.” I like to think that prose can be like music. At one time in my life I played flute professionally, and as a writer I am always working to capture the tone and rhythm of a story.
Hi Susan, Lovely poem…reminds me of you and your wonderful soulful flute playing in the mezannine of Circular Church…it was such a gift to all of us who were there…also, if you haven’t seen August Rush, I would recommend it…it, too, resonates with this poem for me.
Hi Diana, Great to hear from you. Thanks for remembering my music-making so fondly. I hope to get back into it soon. Yes, I have seen August Rush. I really liked it.
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
Website