"Rose of Sharon" (1778) by William Billings

"I am the rose of Sharon,
and the lily of the valleys..."
-- Song of Solomon, 2:1-11

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley;
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley;
As the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters,
As the apple tree, the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among the sons, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste;
And his fruit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting house
His banner over me was love,
He brought me to the banqueting house
His banner over me was love.

Stay me with flagons,
Comfort me with apples, for I am sick,
for I am sick, for I am sick of love;
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
By the roses, and by the hinds of the field,
That you stir not up,
That you stir not up,
That you stir not up,
that you stir not up, nor awake, awake,
awake, awake, my love, till he please.

The voice of my beloved,
Behold! he cometh,
leaping upon the mountains skipping,
skipping, skipping, skipping,
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

The voice of my beloved,
Behold! he cometh,
leaping upon the mountains skipping,
skipping, skipping, skipping,
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

My beloved spake,
And said unto me,
Rise up,
Rise up,
Rise up,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,
the rain is over, the rain is over and gone.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

Bear on the Running Machine

Poor Bakkom the bear. His life's a bit like mine, everything he touches seems to be fighting him..

Tom Waits, Old '55

Dave Lindholm:- Pieni Ja Hento Ote

I was told this sound file was not working, have been back and fixed it... Nice to see I get so many visitors from Finland!
From 1982 album, Äino.
My translation would not be very good, but just listen and enjoy.

Dave Lindholm - Pieni ja hento ote
language finnish
text+music Ralf Lindholm

Pidin siitä mistä kerroit, ihmisestä joka halusi muistoksi talon
Pidän siitä miten kerrot asioita tunteita
Pidän siitä mitä teet, teet sen kauniisti ja hyvin
Sinä yllätät kaikki paitsi ne jotka tietää

refrain:
Pieni ja hento ote ihmisestä kiinni
Aivan sama tunne kuin koskettava tuuli
Pieni ja hento ote - siinä kaikki

Olemisen riemu ei ravistele olkapäitä
Runoilijan kehto ei ole ruusuista tehty koskaan
Hiljaisuuden huntu ei milloinkaan petä kuulijaa
Mikä nämä yhdistää? Rakkaus suureen elämään

refrain

Turhanpäiväinen älykkyys syö ihmistä rotan lailla
Miten kaikki voi olla valmista kun ei ole edes tehty mitään?
Miten niin jalat maassa? Oletko nähnyt kenenkään kävelevän ilmassa?
Pidän sinusta siinä kaikki. Pitääkö se todistaa tuhansilla sanoilla?

refrain

Valoa ja pimeää, ei siin ole mitään luonnotonta
Kummassakin laulussa hyvä tunne kasvaa ja kasvaa
En pidä siitä että siirtyminen vaatii mahtavia tekoja
Sateen jälkeen hiekkatiellä kauneus hehkuu ja kumartaa syvään

refrain Small and gentle touch


I like what you said, about a man who wanted a house as a souvenir.
I like the way you tel of matters of emotion.
I like what you do, you do it beautifully and well.
You amaze everyone, except those who know.

Tiny, gentle, touch holding mankind,
Feels just like the wind's caress.
A small and gentle touch - that's all.

The joy of existence doesn't shrug shoulders.
The poet's cradle is never made of roses.
The veil of silence never betrays the listener.
What joins these? Love of life.

Superfluos intelligence eats at man like a rat.
How can all be ready when nothing has been made?
How come down-to-earth? Have you seen someone walking in the air?
I like you, that's all. Does it need to be proved in thousands of words?

Light and dark, it's nothing unnatural.
In both songs the good feeling rises and rises.
I don't like that changes ask for mighty acts.
After rain on a dirt-road beauty glows and takes a bow.

The Bear is Back

The Bear, in earlier post, titled The Sheep Look Up seemed popular. Here he is again, having a little trouble with a balloon.

This Site Does NOT Condone Violence Against Gnomes

Despite provocative behavior by some Gnomes, led no doubt by Bjorn Tealeavery, in response to an earlier post, I must say this site does not and will not support violence against gnomes.
To do so would be to descend to their level.
So I deplore the perpetrators of the Gnomesville Massacre, against the Gnome populace near Dardanup, Western Australia, which lists Gnomesville as one of its no-doubt many cultural attractions.
I quote "The population of Gnomesville has grown from a handful of statues placed covertly in the forest a few years ago, making it a popular stop off for tour buses visiting nearby vineyards.
It's being called the "Gnomesville Massacre" and emergency workers in Western Australia are offering a reward for the capture of vandals who smashed their way through a local tourist attraction.
An unknown number of attackers lopped off the heads or smashed several dozen of the pot-bellied statues this week at Gnomesville, a collection of more than a 1,000 colorful characters deep in a forest south of Perth.
"We are incensed by the damage done to the gnomes and willing to pay a reward to catch the culprits," State Emergency Service Volunteer Association President Phillip Petersen told Reuters.
Six orange-colored gnomes depicting emergency workers were among those destroyed, Petersen said, adding the reward was A$500 ($390) Remember, readers, most gnomes are moderate, and are no threat to humans. And over the millennia they have successfully kept their dissident hotheads under control.
Stay away from Gnomesville, don't travel in the region at night, keep your doors locked. Report any suspicious activity to the police. If you know who might have done this, call the police."

Tom Waits,

Amelia, by Joni Mitchell, For RedDirtGirl.

Amelia, The Amelia in the song, is Amelia Earhart, pioneering aviatrix. She was the first woman to fly the atlantic, more importantly, she was , after Charles Lindbergh, the second person to fly solo across the atlantic. She was attempting to be first to fly around the world, when she disappeared near Howland Island in the Pacific, 1937.

I was driving across the burning desert
When I spotted six jet planes
Leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain
It was the hexagram of the heavens it was the strings of my guitar
Amelia it was just a false alarm

The drone of flying engines
Is a song so wild and blue
It scrambles time and seasons if it gets thru to you
Then your life becomes a travelogue
Of picture post card charms
Amelia it was just a false alarm

People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
Oh, Amelia it was just a false alarm

I wish that he was here tonight
It's so hard to obey
His sad request of me to kindly stay away
So this is how I hide the hurt
As the road leads cursed and charmed
I tell Amelia it was just a false alarm

A ghost of aviation
She was swallowed by the sky
Or by the sea like me she had a dream to fly
Like Icarus ascending
On beautiful foolish arms
Amelia it was just a false alarm

Maybe I've never really loved
I guess that is the truth
I've spent my whole life in clouds at icy altitude
And looking down on everything I crashed into his arms
Amelia it was just a false alarm

I pulled into the Cactus Tree Motel
To shower off the dust
And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust
I dreamed of 747s
Over geometric farms
Dreams Amelia - dreams and false alarms