The Green Fuse
THE GOLDEN ROOM EPISODE #10 – THE GREEN FUSE
[image error]
This is a special ‘emergency’ episode of The Golden Room to offer some solace during the COVID-19 global crisis, and to celebrate the coming of Spring. However challenging the current circumstances life continues – and is tangible in every hedgerow, every bird-song, every new bud. This medley comprises my selection of classic poems about the season, along with new work by myself, Ella Bloomfield, and the late Jay Ramsay. Music is provided by Chantelle Smith, Rosemary Duxbury, La Zag, Rick Ward, and Beggard Velvet. May you find this selection soothing. Please pass on to any who you feel will benefit from it.
Track Listings:
THE GOLDEN ROOM EPISODE #10
THE GREEN FUSE
Introduction by Kevan Manwaring/Reverie by Rosemary Duxbury
Lines Written in Early Spring: William Wordsworth
Sumer is icumen in: Anon, 13th anon./voice & harp by Chantelle Smith, 2020
The Trees: Philip Larkin
S.L.: La Zag (from ‘Hic Sunt Leones’)
The Names of the Hare: Translation from the Middle English by Seamus Heaney
Didgeridoo: Sam Bloomfield (from ‘Phoenix’ sampler)
Viriditas*: Hildegard von Bingen
Bright Blue Rose: Marko Gallaidhe (trad.)
Heather’s Spring: Kevan Manwaring
Rosemary Duxbury (from ‘Thread of Gold’)
‘The force that through the green fuse drives the flower’: Dylan Thomas
Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Beggars Velvet (trad. From ‘Lady of Autumn’)
14. When green buds hang in the elm: A.E. Housman
My Bonny Cuckoo: Chantelle Smith (trad., recorded 2020)
Cotswold Love: John Drinkwater
Banjo: Rick Ward (from ‘Keeping the Tradition’)
Spring: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Song Birds: Ella Bloomfield (from ‘Phoenix’)
Lullaby: Jay Ramsay (from ‘Phoenix’)
* Viriditas (Latin, literally “greenness,” formerly translated as “viridity”) is a word meaning vitality, fecundity, lushness, verdure, or growth. It is particularly associated with abbess Hildegard von Bingen, who used it to refer to or symbolize spiritual and physical health, often as a reflection of the divine word or as an aspect of the divine nature.
Selection by Kevan Manwaring 20th March 2018