WIST Quotations

McCullough, Colleen -- The Thorn Birds, Epigraph (1977)

Dave — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 16:55:14 +0000

There is a legend about a bird that sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. Dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of the great pain. … Or so says the legend.

Colleen McCullough (1937-2015) Australian author
The Thorn Birds, Epigraph (1977)
(Source)

Farjeon, Eleanor -- “Morning Has Broken” (1931)

Dave — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 04:47:33 +0000

Morning has broken,
Like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the Word!

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) English author
“Morning Has Broken” (1931)
(Source)

Set to music and popularized by Cat Stevens in Teaser and the Firecat (1971).

Addison, Joseph -- Poem (1694), “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, at Oxford,” st. 3

Dave — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:31:53 +0000

Musick, the greatest Good that Mortals know,
And all of Heav’n we have below.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Poem (1694), “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, at Oxford,” st. 3
(Source)

Cecilia is the patron saint of music and musicians.

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Hobbit, ch. 1 “An Unexpected Party” [Thorin, et al.] (1937)

Dave — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 07:27:26 +0000

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Goblets they carved there for themselves
And harps of gold; where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.

The pines were roaring on the height,
The winds were moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
The trees like torches blazed with light.

The bells were ringing in the dale
And men they looked up with faces pale;
The dragon’s ire more fierce than fire
Laid low their towers and houses frail.

The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.

Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Hobbit, ch. 1 “An Unexpected Party” [Thorin, et al.] (1937)
(Source)

Song sung by Thorin Oakenshield and the rest of his dwarvish company.

Bates, Katharine Lee -- Poem (1893), “America,” st. 1, The Congregationalist, Vol. 80, No. 27 (1895-07-04)

Dave — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:44:12 +0000

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) American writer and poet
Poem (1893), “America,” st. 1, The Congregationalist, Vol. 80, No. 27 (1895-07-04)
(Source)

Bates wrote the poem "America" after a trip across the US to teach at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, her inspiration prompted by the view from atop Pikes Peak (elevation 14,115 ft / 4,302 m; her original title for the poem was "Pikes Peak").

The above is the original version of the first stanza of the poem. Bates revised that text by 1904 to the more familiar:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

The poem was combined in 1910 by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward with his 1882 tune "Materna" (originally written for the 17th Century hymn "O Mother dear, Jerusalem"), under the title "America the Beautiful."

For more information on the history of this poem and song, see America the Beautiful - Wikipedia.

Augustine of Hippo -- (Spurious)

Dave — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:34:43 +0000

He who sings, prays twice.

[Qui cantat, bis orat.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
(Spurious)

Sometimes cited to Sermon 336, but this text is not found there. Often given as "Qui bene cantat bis orat" (properly, "He who sings well prays twice.")

The closest found in Augustine's work (CCL 39, per here) is:

For he who sings praise, does not only praise, but also praises joyfully; he who sings praise, not only sings, but also loves Him whom he is singing about/to/for. There is a praise-filled public proclamation in the praise of someone who is confessing/acknowledging God, in the song of the lover there is love.

[Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat; qui cantat laudem, non solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat. In laude confitentis est praedicatio, in cantico amantis affectio.

Alternate:

The one who sings praise, not only praises, but also praises joyfully; the one who sings praise, not only sings, but also loves Him for whom he sings. In the praise by one who confesses the Divine Being, praise actually is a public profession; and in the song of the lover is affection for the Beloved.

But that's still not the simplified version, even in meaning, that is the subject matter here.

The earliest I could find the Latin, Qui cantat, bis orat, was in Wenzel Nicolaides, Cantiones Evangelicae: Ad Usitatas Harmonias (1554).

For more discussion, see here:

Augustine: He who sings prays twice | They didn't say it.

St. Augustine: “He who sings prays twice” | Fr. Z's Blog.

Milne, A. A. -- House at Pooh Corner, ch. 4 “Tiggers Don’t Climb Trees” (1928)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Written down like this, it doesn’t seem a very good song, but coming through pale fawn fluff at about half-past eleven on a very sunny morning, it seemed to Pooh to be one of the best songs he had ever sung. So he went on singing it.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 4 “Tiggers Don’t Climb Trees” (1928)
(Source)