Monthly Archives: December 2020

“Come, Ye Shepherds” #Advent #Music

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“Kommet, Ihr Hirten” (“Come, Ye Shepherds”) is a traditional German Christmas carol. However, it is based on an earlier Czech carol, entitled “Nesem vám noviny.” The melody is Bohemian, author unknown. Carl Riedel wrote the German lyrics, and the carol was first published in 1870.

The lyrics urge “Shepherds, men and women” to come to the Nativity scene and see the “lovely child.” They describe the angel’s visit, the shepherds’ walk to the manger, and their adoration of the Lord who has brought “peace on earth, goodwill to all mankind.”

I hope you enjoy this arrangement featuring melody and harmony on Oriole (soprano) and alto recorder respectively, lyre accompaniment, and the German lyrics I learned from a record album about 20 years ago!

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging Party. Want to participate?
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Ode to Eggs #Poem

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I was never really fond of eggs
until I became a vegan!
Now there’s a prime example of,
“You always want what you can’t have!”
There I was, no animal products allowed,
when suddenly, eggs became one of my favorite foods!

I can’t say I had a tangerine dream about them,
or maybe I did
and just don’t want to admit it!
I can still see eggs now in my mind,
bright yellow as morning sun rays!
Yum!

Eggs are easy peasy to prepare
and take no time at all,
a blessing at breakfast–
the most important meal of the day!

I like them scrambled,
fried,
baked in a casserole or over a hearthstone fire,
and almost any other way
besides in a puddle on my plate!

If I were an astronaut,
would I like them freeze-dried?
Would I fortify myself with a couple space-age eggs
before a difficult day of moon walking?
Or return to my vintage turquoise spaceship
and whip some up before a cozy nap in my pod?

I’ll never know!
Space may be the final frontier,
but I enjoy my eggs
just fine
right here
right now
on earth!

—
My response to Linda Kruschke’s
Paint Chip Poetry Prompt #49

Self-deception #Decima #Poem

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How we take the scarring, scraping
Given by the lives we’ve chosen!
In our prison, rigid, frozen,
While the door is open, gaping!

For we live the lives we’re shaping
By our choices, thoughts, believing.
True acceptance starts relieving.
Earth is anything but stable;
Let us cling to Heaven’s cable!
Keep the Truth and stop deceiving!

—
This was a hard one for me, using the word “stable” in the D line of a Decima! Written for
Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge Prompt No. 34: (STABLE) in the D rhyme line.

“Once in Royal David’s City” #Advent #Music

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This beautiful Christmas carol began as a poem written by Cecil Frances Alexander in 1848. The poem is based on Luke 2:4-7, which read:

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

In 1849, English organist Henry John Gauntlett discovered the poem and set it to his melody entitled “Irby,” which is the tune we still sing today.

I first heard this carol on a CD of English (as in from England) carols someone gave me for Christmas when I was about 15. It was a choral arrangement that began with a soprano soloist. For some reason the melody and
lyrics
were unforgetable to me, and I learned to play the carol by ear on piano to accompany my singing.

Here is “Once in Royal David’s City” on ukulele, viola, alto recorder, and lyre. I hope you enjoy it!

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging party. And you’re invited!
Click here to learn how to participate!