Love (III) - George Herbert
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack,
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack'd anything.
It is quite uplifting to discover new writers, even if they were born centuries ago, and new music, even if it may not be the ordinary music you listen to, and all this thanks to your favorite writer, in my case, Jeanette Winterson.
On the 11th of November Jeanette spoke on BBC Radio 4 about
George Herbert's poetry and
Sir John Tavener's elating music. Herbert's poems attract a new audience mainly because his message states that love must come before God, which seems quite controversial for a 17th century poet.
Taverner, who unfortunately died last month at the age of 69, is famous for his mystical music and the liturgical traditions that influenced his major works. How the two can mix is described in the podcast. You can listen to it
here, for more insight on how the two creative minds can be related, but simply listening to "The Protecting Veil" can give you the feeling of having been touched by the wings of an angel :)
