It feels almost as if you can see the snow crystals, feel the cold and hear the dry Teasal rattling in the breeze.
Tree Sparrow and Teasal - © Robert Bateman |
I've chosen a lovely choir piece this week by Franz Joseph Haydn, it is sung in Latin. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, which means "Thee, O God, we praise"
Te Dium No 2 in C.
Here is a link to Wikipedia's article on this piece of music.
Phillis Wheatley's
Ode to Neptune
(On Mrs. W-----'s Voyage to England.)
While raging tempests shake the shore,
While Aelus' thunders round us roar,
And sweep impetuous o'er the plain
Be still, O tyrant of the main;
Nor let thy brow contracted frowns betray,
While my Susanna skims the wat'ry way.
The Pow'r propitious hears the lay,
The blue-ey'd daughters of the sea
With sweeter cadence glide along,
And Thames responsive joins the song.
Pleas'd with their notes Sol sheds benign his ray,
And double radiance decks the face of day.
To court thee to Britannia's arms
Serene the eclimes and mild the sky.
Her region boasts unnumber'd charms,
Thy welcome smiles in ev'ry eye.
Thy promise Neptune keep record my pray'r,
Not give my wishes to the empty air.
Here is a recording of Claire D. Phillipe quoting this poem