-- Origins of Music --

John Herlihy

Before the creation of the universe,

Before the timely birth of the ages,

Before rhythms of celestial spheres,

Before the luminescence of starlight.

Lies silence of all unknown sound,

Lies blindness of the unseen sight,

Lies rhythms of the natural order,

Lies the beat of the heart and soul.

Creation began as sound sounding,

Creation began as light abounding,

Creation began as a universal word,

Creation as Be, the first word heard.

Light freed the universe of darkness,

Sound freed the universe of silence,

Motion freed the universe of stillness,

Time freed the universe of eternity.

The dawn light from darkness torn,

In movement, pure rhythms born.

The heartbeat of life sets the pace,

Breath of spirit in the human race.

Music began as a sounding sphere,

Planets, moons, and stars appear.

Spiraling galaxies on Heaven’s Way,

In celestial esplanades, a Milky Way.

Focus down onto the sun and earth,

Orbit on its axis since time of birth.

In deepest recesses emerges sound,

Echoes, cries, melodies profound.

In paradisal nature, nary a false note,

Beatific sounds appear as if by rote.

Whispers of waves to thunder’s roar,

Echoes of the beauty of music to soar.

Listen to the lush rain and lilting wind,

Dawn dewdrops fall their music to lend.

When dawn and dusk utter their hush,

When a storm’s gale arrives in a rush.

Sounds of peace heard in falling snow,

Whispers whenever the wind may blow.

The cry of the peacock or the loon’s lament,

Sacred music drawn from nature’s intent.

When nature’s melodies our hearts adorn,

We soon appreciate how music was born.

In the tears of stars found individual notes,

Celestial music that down to earth floats.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Tuesday 6 July 2021