Loreena McKennitt - Courtyard lullaby

Wherein the deep night sky
The stars lie in its embrace
The courtyard still in its sleep
Peace comes over your face

"Come with me" it sings
"Hear the pulse of the land
The Ocean's rhythms pull
To hold your heart in its hand"

When the wind draws strong
Across the cypress trees
The Nightbirds cease their songs
So gathers memories

Last night you spoke of a dream
Where forests strechted to the east
And each bird sang its song
A Unicorn joined in a feast

And in a corner stood
A pomegranate tree
With wild flowers there
No mortal eye could see

Yet still some mystery befalls
Sure as the cock crows at morn
The world in stillness keeps
The secret babes to be born

"Come with me my love
Hear the pulse of the land
The Ocean's rhythms pull
To hold your heart in its hand"

I heard an old voice say
"Don't go far from the land
The seasons have their way
No mortal can understand"


... a 16th century hunting lodge in Portugal, where Elisabeth Feryn and I stayed for a week. Within the lodge was a courtyard, marked at each corner by orange trees. The feel of the place reminded me of the Unicorn tapestries which hang in The Cloisters in New York City. The tapestries and the lodge are both rich with earthly, pre-Christian iconography - depicting the mysterious life and death cycle of the seasons. It was in this courtyard that this piece was conceived. - L.M.

Music and lyrics by Loreena McKennitt
From: The visit (1991).

 
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last modified: 12 March 2000