Alouette - The architecture for the 2013 Christmas Poem

Alouette (Little Skylark)  Singable English Translation[1]

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

1.  I'll pluck the feathers off your head.  I'll pluck the feathers off your head off your head!

Little lark! Little lark! O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

2.  I'll pluck the feathers off your beak. I'll pluck the feathers off your beak!

Off your beak ! Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

3.  I'll pluck the feathers off your eyes. I'll pluck the feathers off your eyes.

Off your eyes!  Off your eyes!  

Off your beak!  Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh, 

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

4.  I'll pluck the feathers off your neck. I'll pluck the feathers off your neck

Off your neck!  Off your neck!  

Off your eyes!  Off your eyes!  

Off your beak!  Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

5.  I'll pluck the feathers off your wings. I'll pluck the feathers off your wings.

Off your wings!  Off your wings!  

Off your neck!  Off your neck!  

Off your eyes!  Off your eyes!  

Off your beak!  Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

6.  I'll pluck the feathers off your legs. I'll pluck the feathers off your legs

Off your legs!  Off your legs!

Off your wings!  Off your wings!  

Off your neck!  Off your neck!  

Off your eyes!  Off your eyes!  

Off your beak!  Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

7.  I'll pluck the feathers off your tail. I'll pluck the feathers off your tail.  

Off your tail!  Off your tail!  

Off your legs!  Off your legs!

Off your wings!  Off your wings!  

Off your neck!  Off your neck!  

Off your eyes!  Off your eyes!  

Off your beak!  Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

8.  I'll pluck the feathers off your back. I'll pluck the feathers off your back. 

Off your back!  Off your back!  

Off your tail!  Off your tail!  

Off your legs!  Off your legs!

Off your wings!  Off your wings!  

Off your neck!  Off your neck!  

Off your eyes!  Off your eyes!  

Off your beak!  Off your beak !

Off your head!  Off your head!  

Little lark!  Little lark!  O-o-o-oh,

Little skylark, lovely little skylark, little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.

---

[1] Alouette is a traditional French Canadian Children’s song. As with most traditional songs, the composer is lost in antiquity. In the original, the singer plucks not the feathers, but the body part itself. It fits better my purpose, gentility and the flow of the poetry to use this copied version as a base from which to work.

Christmas Poem 2013 - General Thoughts

This is the second installment of the making of the poem. To see the combination of sources from which this is drawn, see the previous post. Herein below is the gist of the poem to be offered.  The trick will be to succinctly pack it into the Alouette metaphor and form.

Christmas Poem 2013, General Thoughts

I am indebted to Jeanie Jones for implanting the idea of Alouette in my head. I am more indebted to God for His presence in the three visions.

The absolute truth is that Natural Man, in this natural state, is a beast with no more of a live spirit than that of a bird.

However, falling for the literal “oldest sin in the book,” Pride, he thinks of himself as in himself, looking into a mirror of his own making, seeing in himself, something special, a lark with beautiful plumage and an intelligent and beautiful song.

His pride motivates him to announce his beauty to the people of the world, whom he believes as Ayn Rand famously said, are merely parts of his dream.  Likewise, he foists his ignorant song on them believing, in his delusion that they will remember and love him forever and thus he will achieve, on his own, immortality. 

As long as he remains in his natural state, he will likewise remain a mere beast and in so doing, consign himself to the ultimate fate of the beast, ultimate oblivion. It is only by the beneficent action of an outside independent intervening force that the realization of his real self, the ugliness he has of body, the insignificance of his song, and the wrong-headed direction of his will and motivation can, but not necessarily must, come.

He will always be a beast until someone disabuses him of these fallacious and serf-serving notions. What must occur is a slow process of “plucking away” the plumage, feather by feather, part by part until he is undeniably confronted with the “self” as he really exists.

Only in that instant is he prepared to receive the gift of the Numinous, a quickened spirit with which he can view himself, the world and the Numinous as they all really are.

That gift comes merely by the nearness of the presence of the Numinous which, in and of itself is a gift. This divine presence offers the means, the method and the motivation to change the lark’s vision and focus.

The Numinous’ presence demands a response, the one thing that the Numinous cannot give him. The question is then presented, “Will the Lark look into the mirror or into the face of the Numinous?” In the former direction, he will play out his strutting, flabellation of his plumage, and skirl of his song until he is no more. In the latter direction, he, reborn a new creature, will cease all such nonsense and for the first time and forever fly in the direction of the Numinous until the lark reaches him.

Christmas Poem 2013 - The First Idea - Much more to follow

Christmas Poem – as you may or may not know, every year for the past thirty-two, I have written a Christmas poem or story and sent it in place of a commercial Christmas card. This year will be no different; however, I invite you to watch its development by reading my blog, <johnwible.blogspot.com>

This year’s poem, entitled Skylark: The Thrice-met Numinous, is drawn from three sources. It involves first, three experiences I had respectively in India, Jerusalem and again in India and secondly the writings of C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. I have  transposed these ideas against the traditional French Canadian children's song, "Alouette" that, according to scholars, originated in France. The innocent-sounding and tuneful ditty actually concerns plucking the feathers from a lark, referred to in the singable English version as the Skylark, because the singer had his sleep disturbed by the lark’s song. 

It is important for this work that since the middle ages in Europe, the lark (l'alouette,) is the first bird to sing in the morning, hence waking up lovers and causing them to part, and waking up others as well, something which is not always appreciated. Likewise, in French songs, the lark has the reputation of being a gossip and bucket-mouth, a know-it-all, and was thought to carry bad news.

The gist of the poem is that the writer, metaphorically the prideful “Skylark,” meets God referred to by C.S. Lewis, quoting the German theologian Rudolf Otto and the psychiatrist, Carl Jung as the “Numinous.” God’s spirit, the through a process, plucks away Skylark’s prideful self until Skylark is uncovered  before God. When Skylark finally realizes how truly insignificant he really is in comparison to the Numinous, for the first time, he can truly appreciate the majesty of the Numinous and his own poverty. Armed with such spiritual knowledge, he can realize the purpose the Numinous has for him which in the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

This poem will be written in the meter of the song, “Alouette” that begins with the refrain: “Alouette, gentille alouette,Alouette, je te plumerai.” This is loosely translated, Little Skylark, gentile little Skylark, I will pluck off your feathers.” The singer then proceeds to list the parts of the bird he will pluck:

1.            la tête. (head)  

2.            le bec (beak)

3.            les yeux. (eyes)

4.            le cou. (neck)

5.            les ailes. (wings)

6.            les pattes.(legs)

7.            la queue. (tail)

8.            le dos. (back)

I group the parts into four categories: the will (head and neck,) the motivation (wings or arms and legs,) the senses (beak or nose and eyes,) and the body or frame (back and tail.)

Follow me as this develops.