The unquiet grave

Posted by Vale

How pleasant is the wind tonight
I feel some drops of rain
I never had but one true love
In greenwood he lies slain
I’ll do so much for my true love
As any young girl may
I’ll sit and mourn all on your grave
For twelve months and a day

The twelve months and a day being up
The ghost began to speak
Why sit you here and mourn for me
And you will not let me sleep
What do you want of me sweetheart
Oh what is it you crave
Just one kiss of your lily white lips
And that is all I crave

Oh don’t you see the fire sweetheart
The fire that burns so blue
Where my poor soul tormented is
All for the love of you
And if you weren’t my own sweetheart
As I know you well to be
I’d rend you up in pieces small
As leaves upon a tree

Mourn not for me my dearest dear
Mourn not for me I crave
I must leave you and all the world
And turn into my grave

Quote of the day +

 

Posted by Vale

Wislawa Szymborska – Nobel prize winning poet – died last week. In a piece in the Guardian she was reported as saying:

“For the last few years my favourite phrase has been ‘I don’t know’. I’ve reached the age of self-knowledge, so I don’t know anything. People who claim that they know something are responsible for most of the fuss in the world.”

She was a fine poet. Here’s one she wrote about death:

On Death, without Exaggeration

It can’t take a joke,
find a star, make a bridge.
It knows nothing about weaving, mining, farming,
building ships, or baking cakes.

In our planning for tomorrow,
it has the final word,
which is always beside the point.

It can’t even get the things done
that are part of its trade:
dig a grave,
make a coffin,
clean up after itself.

Preoccupied with killing,
it does the job awkwardly,
without system or skill.
As though each of us were its first kill.

Oh, it has its triumphs,
but look at its countless defeats,
missed blows,
and repeat attempts!

Sometimes it isn’t strong enough
to swat a fly from the air.
Many are the caterpillars
that have outcrawled it.

All those bulbs, pods,
tentacles, fins, tracheae,
nuptial plumage, and winter fur
show that it has fallen behind
with its halfhearted work.

Ill will won’t help
and even our lending a hand with wars and coups d’etat
is so far not enough.

Hearts beat inside eggs.
Babies’ skeletons grow.
Seeds, hard at work, sprout their first tiny pair of leaves
and sometimes even tall trees fall away.

Whoever claims that it’s omnipotent
is himself living proof
that it’s not.

There’s no life
that couldn’t be immortal
if only for a moment.

Death
always arrives by that very moment too late.

In vain it tugs at the knob
of the invisible door.
As far as you’ve come
can’t be undone.

By Wislawa Szymborska
From “The People on the Bridge”, 1986
Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh

You can buy the People on the Bridge here.

Now with streaming video

 

Posted by Vale

The Lancashire Telegraph reported last week that it is planning to put a video streaming service into it’s Burnley Crematorium.

The chapel proved too small on over 50 occasions last year and, with the video service, people would be able to watch the ceremony on a big screen or over (a password protected) internet connection.

It’s part of a package of improvements: roadways have been upgraded and burners renewed. The money left over should run to installation of the Wesley system as well.

It’s great to hear about Council investment in these straightened times and even better to see that some of the money (only £25,000 out of an £855,000 budget – but let’s not be dogs in the manger) is going into improving the venue as a place for ceremonies and services.

It’s a pressing need all over the country. We often campaign for services to be held, well, almost anywhere other than the crem, so that people can have space and time for their service. But, if crematoria have to be used, Council’s should be encouraged to think of them as flexible spaces where people have the opportunity to create the ceremonies they need. Far too few have facilities for projecting videos or slideshows. Seating is often inflexible and, for goodness sake, there are far too many where you cannot even light a candle.

Well done Burnley – it’s a start and, maybe, you’ve thrown down a civic gauntlet for others to respond to. You can find the full article here.

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