Answering Hatred with Roses

It was all over the news today!  A huge crowd (est. 40,000) gathered in a central square of Oslo, Norway, to nullify the actions and words of Anders Behring Breivik.  

Breivik, who expresses no remorse for his cold-blooded killing of 77 defenseless people (mostly teenagers), testified that he hated the song "Children of the Rainbow" because "it is an example of how 'cultural Marxists' have infiltrated Norwegian schools and weakened its society."

"Children of the Rainbow" is a Norwegian translation of Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Race," written by him in answer to the social upheavals of the 1960s and released on his 1971 album of that title.   

Since I wasn't familiar with "Rainbow Race," I looked it up on Youtube.  I found it to be a wonderful song, especially moving in light of this story.  Here's a video of Pete singing "Rainbow Race" in 1971.

In 1975 Norwegian folk-singer Lillebjoern Nilsen translated it into his native language and it has been very popular there ever since, especially among school children. This accounts for Breivik's statement that it has "infiltrated Norwegian schools."

In response, Norwegians of all ages gathered yesterday (April 26) by the tens of thousands as Nilsen led them in singing "Children of the Rainbow."  Afterwards they walked to the Oslo courthouse and carpeted the steps with red and white roses.

Norwegians by and large feel that the best way to react to the gunman is by demonstrating their commitment to everything he loathes.  Instead of obsessing on feelings of rage and violence, they choose to show support for tolerance and democracy. One youth group leader said, "We aren't here because of him, but because of each other."

 And here you can see Norwegians singing "Children of the Rainbow" yesterday in Youngstorget, Oslo.

 The chorus to Pete Seeger's original is:

       One blue sky above us, one ocean lapping all our shore,
       One earth so green and round, Who could ask for more?
       And because I love you, I'll give it one more try
       To show my rainbow race it's too soon to die.

This is the Norwegian translation:
        A sky full of stars, blue seas as far as you can see,
        An earth where flowers grow, Can you wish for more?
        Together shall we live, every sister, brother,
        Young children of the rainbow, a fertile land.

As the Poet Hears and Sees

What do you see here?

Flowers?  Violas, to be specific.

Yes, but....
     anything else? 
















I ran across a poet recently -- well, didn't actually run into her because she died some years ago.  But she was quoted in a book (by an author that I'll talk more about at another time). 

The quoter is Ellen Gilchrist, and she was talking about how, over the years, she came to understand what was of real value to her.  Early in her life, when having to choose between nice clothes and works of art, the clothes often won.  But, with time and maturity, she thought differently and found herself living happily in a small house filled mostly with paintings and sculpture and photographs.  She never locked the door because "anybody that wanted to steal the things in that house would have been someone I wanted to meet."

She is musing over the fact that life will not give us everything we want, but perhaps it will give us some special things like, (and here she uses the words of the poet Elinor Wylie), "a very small purse, made of a mouse's hide.  Put it in your pocket and never look inside." 


For some reason, I just love the image of that small mouse purse--although I'm not sure exactly what she meant by it.  I looked up Elinor Wylie, but, of all her poems, I could not find one with that line.  I did, though, find the story of her life (1885-1928), which was not altogether happy.  She was from a well-to-do family and appreciated for her beauty and intellect, but she was never able to maintain a stable relationship.  


I see the small purse as something lovely but fanciful, not quite real.  You put it in your pocket to keep it safe and close, but it's best never to look at it too closely, for fear that you may find its existence to be only in your mind.


Her poem, A Proud Lady, must be somewhat autobiographical when she writes, 
     "You have taken the arrows and slings
      Which prick and bruise
      And fashioned them into wings
      For the heels of your shoes."


Another poem, Pretty Words, seems more light-hearted:
     "Poets make pets of pretty, docile words:
      I love smooth words . . . .
      Which circle slowly with a silken swish . . . ."

    But there is still a pained undercurrent in the last stanza:
     ". . . .and honeyed words like bees,
      Gilded and sticky, with a little sting."


Somehow I think that Elinor Wylie would see more in the photo than just flowers.

And you will, too, if you sit back a little distance from the computer screen and let yourself concentrate on those two red and yellow figures.  What do you see?


Would you like to know more about Elinor Wylie and her poetry?  Click here
 

Easter Greetings

Every sunrise is a blessing from God
--new life
--new hope
--new opportunities

  May this Easter bring you 
  a special reminder 
  of this newness.









  

  Blessings and love
  and appreciation 
  of the beauty around you

And maybe a bunny and a few jelly beans!