In the beginning was the word
I WAS PLEASED to read the beautifully crafted and thoughtful article by Thomas Newbolt in an earlier Swaffham Crier regarding "Advent by Candlelight" 2004, which raised over £1,000 for Emmaus. I felt inspired to write a response as I am already in the process of organising thisyear's event, to be held on Advent Sunday November 27 2005.
It was felt (and I concur with this) that some of last year's poems were particularly difficult to understand and interpret, not only for the listeners but also for the speakers. This is a problem that we face every year, in fact, as the very nature of much poetry necessitates contraction of thought and expression. Indeed, what has been suggested is that, for our concert, every poem could be printed in full, within the concert programme.
However, there are two major drawbacks here. First, many of the poems we use are in copyright, and the cost of printing them would be prohibitive. We have tried, over and over again, to ask living poets for permission to print their works but few reply, and those that do often dismiss our event as merely a village carol service (wrong on three counts!). Second, during the concert, the poems are traditionally read out in the dark, so no-one in the audience would be able to read the poems in their programmes as they were being spoken. I do always ensure to include precise references to all the poems used, particularly from less well-known authors, and I doget quite a lot of positive feedback about this, particularly frompeople as far away as Korea and North America who had been unableto attend the concert but requested a copy of the concert programme to be sent to them.
I do think it needs to be pointed out that the central theme of Advent, the forthcoming incarnation of Christ, is epitomised with the somewhat confusing opening words of St John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God". Frankly, that text is one of most complex and difficult to comprehend in the Bible, particularly upon first hearing it. Its true meaning can only be truly gathered when one understands the various, interwoven meanings of the original Greek word for "the Word" - Logos. Indeed, the whole aspect of the Incarnation and Virginbirth is, literally, incomprehensible. Our "Advent by Candlelight", with its changing themes each year, tries to explore all the many, varied ways of interpreting this unfathomable mystery. Our unique form of exploration, through poetry ancient and modern, prose and music, is very much our own creation: some years we score a high success, some years it is less so. But we are always exploring, experimenting, finding new things, or hearing familiar things in a unusual context. It is a journey that has no single point of arrival, and certainly not the same point for every person. By putting "Advent by Candlelight" in the context of a concert, many people from far and wide feel able to come to visit our village (we have regulars from Sussex, Hampshire, London, Wales, Oxford and York), maybe just this one time in the year, to experience something that cannot be put into rational words.
In contrast Christmas is filled with simple imagery: wise men, shepherds, angels, stars, a crib, farmyard animals, straw, a surly inn-keeper, a virgin birth, trees, tinsel, no public transport, King's College Chapel, snow, robins, a yulelog, divorce, etc etc. Much of this has been made up, but made up by earlier generations for a good reason; to give us something to fix our thoughts upon, something that crystallises a particular aspect of the meaning of Christ's Nativity to us. But with Advent, we must work harder, and look for these images, similes and metaphors hidden around us. By ceaselessly researching the vast treasury of the English language, (I have about 33 anthologies and 60-odd single-author collections permanently by my bed!) I hope to find all sorts of things that might reveal something special to us: and we must never be afraid of the unknowable, the dark, the difficult, and the provocative, for in them lie the deepest truths; those thoughts and fears that we avoid in our daily lives.
Finally, do please suggest your own choices of poems and prose for future "Advent by Candlelight" concerts. Each year we ask for your input, and we will always include anything relevant that has been submitted by you. Sadly, little has been submitted to date. So, if you would like to hear more approachable extracts of poetry, do please let me, or Hilary Sage (01638 742978) know your suggestions and they will all be included. This year's theme is "St Nicolas". Benjamin Britten has written a popular cantata about him (which we will perform in its entirety, complete with audience participation), and there are some wonderful friezes pertaining to him around Winchester Cathedral's font. His feast-day in December 6 (not November 6 as I stupidly wrote in an earlier Crier!) and he is the inspiration behind the modern-day Santa Claus. So I hope that gives you plenty of things to inspire you.