Dear lovers of music, mystery, and meaning,
Last month, I spent a day at the church down the street thinking about poetry, art, and worship. One of the things that was said by Abram van Engren, Associate Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, is that the word stanza means “room.” It got me thinking about the poems I know and love, and what it means to enter each of these rooms in turn.
Last month, I spent a day at the church down the street thinking about poetry, art, and worship. One of the things that was said by Abram van Engren, Associate Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, is that the word stanza means “room.” It got me thinking about the poems I know and love, and what it means to enter each of these rooms in turn.
In my memory, the poem describes the room where the Angel Gabriel and Mary meet. But as I read it again, I discovered that the third stanza of this poem only implies the existence of this room: “Outside the window footsteps fall / Into the ordinary day”
Briefly, our attention turns to what is happening outside this room, so that we can appreciate what happens inside it as even more extraordinary and timeless.
It is a wonderful time of year to visit our favorite rooms, some of which make up some rather familiar and grand houses.
Joy to the world! the Lord is come:
let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing.
– Isaac Watts
As we traverse words and rhymes old and new, we can, as the old carol says, “make our house fair as we are able.” And this is a very timely sentiment, given the collect for this upcoming Sunday.
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
– Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 1979 Book of Common Prayer