Lately, I seem to run into serendipity every time I turn a corner, or so it seems.  Pure chance?  I don’t know.  I have my suspicions.  Sometimes, I do think I am being gently guided to discover and understand and be in awe of what was, what is, and what may be.  

Such is the case with a beautiful song I have been practicing, in a new venture of mine, singing with an amazing group of professional choristers.

The song is called The Snow, based on a poem written by Lady Caroline Alice Elgar.  Her husband, Sir Edward Elgar (he of Pomp and Circumstance fame) wrote the music.  

What struck me was the melody and the poignancy of the lyrics.  

In essence, it is a meditation:  why the soul in its purest form ought to be as white as snow.  But life happens, and one’s heart should strive to be strong in the face of adversity, bleakness and dejection.

For under a blanket of snow, lies the sadness of the wilting flora.  Eventually, though, the snow melts and is no longer pure and white.  It fades away.  It is fleeting.  Here today and gone tomorrow.  But the cadence of nature continues, and the soul should propagate clarity, integrity and faith in sombre and stinging times.  

And when inevitably we lose our luster and fade away, like the melting snow, we should “endure through all the years full sure “:  that is, cling as best we can to our core values, nurturing our principles, staying true to ourselves, and never giving up regardless of fate.

Below is a beautiful rendition by the University of Manchester Chorus.

THE SNOW
by Caroline Alice Elgar

O snow, which sinks so light,
Brown earth is hid from sight
O soul, be thou as white as snow,
O snow, which falls so slow,
Dear earth quite warm below;
O heart, so keep thy glow
Beneath the snow.

O snow, in thy soft grave
Sad flow'rs the winter brave;
O heart, so sooth and save, as does the snow.
The snow must melt, must go,
Fast, fast as water flow.
Not thus, my soul, O sow
Thy gifts to fade like snow.

O snow, thou'rt white no more,
Thy sparkling too, is o'er;
O soul, be as before,
Was bright the snow.
Then as the snow all pure,
O heart be, but endure;
Through all the years full sure,
Not as the snow.