[1475] I Sought on Earth a Garden of Delight

Guest poem sent in by Cristina Gazzieri <crigazzieri@>

I sought on earth a garden of delight,
Or island altar to the Sea and Air,
Where gentle music were accounted prayer,
And reason, veiled, performed the happy rite.
My sad youth worshipped at the piteous height
Where God vouchsafed the death of man to share;
His love made mortal sorrow light to bear,
But his deep wounds put joy to shamed flight.
And though his arms, outstretched upon the tree,
Were beautiful, and pleaded my embrace,
My sins were loath to look upon his face.
So came I down from Golgotha to thee,
Eternal Mother; let the sun and sea
Heal me, and keep me in thy dwelling-place.

	-- George Santayana

   I was born and brought up in Italy, the very heart of Christianity, and
it is not difficult, for me, to understand the feeling of the poet in this
sonnet.  The sense of guilt, the feeling of constant inadequacy of your
moral life, the denial of pleasure... They are all part of the religious
feeling they tried to inculcate in us. The reaction against all this,
particularly from the 60s onwards has been radical, so that, today,
Catholicism has become (here, at least) more tolerant towards human
weakness, less strict and demanding, more open.

As many others of my generation I have read and re-read Bertrand Russell's
'Why I am not A Christian', yet, though from an intellectual point of view I
have always shared his views, I cannot completely avoid feeling the need for
a divine presence. As Santayana, I have often hoped for the existence (and,
I must admit, in times of need, I have also prayed) of a female divinity (a
mother goddess or a Madonna – call her what you like) – I thought I did so
because it was easier for me to pray to a divinity of the same gender, so I
was surprised when I read Santayana's poem. Our need must probably be
something more ancestral, the need to be soothed by a mother also in
maturity; the feeling that  we are bond to simple, elemental laws: the
cycles of nature, life and death, biological laws and an "Eternal Mother" is
closer to this than any other abstract, frowning or anguishing father god.

Cristina

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From: "Cat" <theamazingcatherine@>

You're not alone in wanting a more female divine presence.  In the
Middle Ages the cult of the Virgin Mary was very strong.  There's an odd
little poem from that era called "Adam Lay Ybounden"

Adam lay ybounden
Bounden in a bond
Foure thousand winters
Thought he not too long

And all was for an apple
An apple that he took
As the clerkes founden
Written in their book

And then something something, the gist being that if he hadn't eaten the
apple then Mary would never have been the Queen of Heaven.  Therefore,
Deo Gracias - Thank God.

I apologise for my poor memory.  I liked your poem a lot.

From: <mcpye2@>

There's a few versions of this online, but I send you this link because it's part of "The Ceremony of Lessons and Carols" page of links at Misson St Clare.  This is a Christmas service of bible readings and songs relating to the story of Christmas.  It starts with the beginning of sin in Eden (hence this one) & goes through the intimations of a saviour in the old testament, before relating The Incarnation, rather like Handel's "Messiah" oratorio.

The musical section is in both plain (mostly midi format) with a page of lyrics and Karaoke version for you to sing at home (or wherever you're running this through the computer, you might have a group all together somewhere out of contact with your usual churches).

www.missionstclare.com/landc/music/adam_lay/adam.html

Adam lay ybounden,
    Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
    Thought he not too long.

All for an apple,
    An apple that he took,
As clerkès finden
    Written in their book.

Ne had the apple taken been,
    The apple taken been,
Ne had never our lady
    Abeen heavenè queen.

Blessèd be the time
    That apple taken was,
Therefore we moun singen,
    Deo gracias! Deo gracias!

Full Ceremony page: www.missionstclare.com/landc/

I must get my audio section working so I can hear all the interesting things now available :)

Merrill Pye

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