Silver Deity of Secret Night: A Love Song to the Moon
Poet/Lyricist:
The intense drive by the mathematicians, scientists, and astronauts who made space travel a reality has always intrigued me. They were moon-dreamers. The scientists, the mathematicians, all the people on the ground at NASA, and the astronauts.
I will admit to being a moon-dreamer, myself. As preparation for writing this piece, I researched the moon, I dug into the math that was used, I watched a new CNN movie using only footage and recordings from the Apollo 11 mission, and I read the transcripts of the conversations between command control and the astronauts. This research, in the form of the Greek alphabet, my own conglomeration of radio and TV broadcasts, and a go/no go poll became a part of the composition. "Silver Deity of Secret Night" is a soundscape of luscious harmonies, interwoven with spoken text, and filled with a sense of longing, trepidation, and anticipation.
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Text:
Thou silver deity of secret night,
Direct my footsteps through the woodland shade;
Thou conscious witness of unknown delight,
The Lover’s guardian, and the Muse’s aid!
By thy pale beams I solitary rove,
To thee my tender grief confide;
Serenely sweet you gild the silent grove,
>My friend, my goddess, and my guide.
E’en thee, fair queen, from thy amazing height,
The charms of young Endymion drew;
Veil’d with the mantle of concealing night;
With all thy greatness and thy coldness too.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762)