Sun and Moon
(Sun Soul)

SUN AND MOON comprises two settings of poems by Garth Bardsley - Sun Soul, describing the rising and setting of the sun, and Eclipse, the wonders of a lunar eclipse. The pieces were created as “bookends” to a concert of choral music celebrating the sun and moon, performed by the Britten Pears Chamber Choir at Snape Maltings Concert Hall on 18th October 2011, conducted by the composer.

SUN SOUL 

Waking
From sleep so long
The Sun Soul blinks
Blinks its newness into the world
Miraculous light!
That stirs all creatures
That penetrates all dormant thoughts
That sets aflame the mirrored city walls
And sweeps aside the veil of night
Growing
The new born, reborn, Sun Soul
Begins to rise
A rainbow arc across this material realm

Before my eyes
Sun Soul child becomes man
And with strengthened arms, pushes back the sky
Astounding light!
The Sun Soul stands aloft
And holds the day in its triumphant grasp! 

Faltering, weakening
The Sun Soul lets slip its hold on youth
And loosens its grip upon the sky 

Its eyes drop down from their distant view
And all too soon the golden dream is dimmed 

Saddened
I watch the Sun Soul race towards an elusive grave
Hidden from sight by a limitless horizon
Shimmering light
Sighing
The Sun Soul sinks once more into endless sleep
Amazed by the riches of a single day 

ECLIPSE 

Rising, as darkness falls,
The bloated moon begins to climb
And describe the circle
Of her journey
Across each hemisphere 

Rising, as darkness falls,
The orange moon begins to burn
Upon the horizon,
And glows hot red,
Competing with the sun 

Rising, as darkness falls,
The angered moon begins to fade
To become translucent
Lit from within
Her mirrored rage has died 

This moon, so long in coming,
Has cast, each night, a light upon my love
And tracked its course like a hunter
Stealing through the darkness towards its prey 

I have watched it wax and wane
I have watched it gorge itself upon the sky
I have stopped, astonished at its stolen brightness
Brazenly illuminating the earth and dimming the stars 

This moon, so long in coming,
Has now, this night, no light to make its own
But sinks into a miasma
Smothered by the jet black cloak of obscurity

And in this blackness the moon,
The fickle moon, reveals herself to me.
For once the lovely lustre of the day has gone
And when no errant glimmer escapes the earth’s gloom
Then what remains? 

Through the glass
Can be seen
The dark side of the moon
Its blood red sadness fills the yellowed vessel
With weight so heavy; how can it fly?
No more the sun’s pretender
No more the limpid guide
In its place a sombre knowledge of the blackness
The blackness that swallows all light 

Then, in a moment, in a breath
The sanguine moon recedes and before my eyes
Her mask is painted white
Defying primordial fears of prolonged shadows
And of unending night.

Once more the lantern lit, hope reborn
The moon smiles as if…
As if nothing –
No thing has been revealed 

‘Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth’

 © Garth Bardsley