Sunday 9 February 2020

Now The Green Blade Rises

I've been very conscious of the arrival of the spring flowers over the last week or two. As well as the snowdrops, the bright yellow aconites have been appearing too.
I've found myself humming the hymn "Love is come again". This was written over a hundred years ago by John Crum, an Anglican priest, to be sung to the old French Tune Noël Nouvelet. It is usually sung at Easter, but I think Rev Crum began it with the word "Now" to show that the message is for every day.[I do like the last verse]
    Now the green blade rises, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.
    In the grave they laid Him, Love whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.
    Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.
    When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Jesus' touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.
In East Anglia the traditional name for aconites is 'choirboys' because the ring of bracts under the petals is reminiscent of a choirboy's ruff. I searched for a videoclip of the song - and many featured ruffled and surpliced boys like this. But I prefer these two Danish guys with a guitar. I think their version befits the simplicity of the ancient tune. 

5 comments:

  1. Yesterday I saw a lovely veggie burger recipe with a mayo made from whipping the water from a jar of chick peas. That water can act like egg white. It was amazing.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uXaBwKhoAQ

    That hymn is very beautiful.

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    Replies
    1. I keep meaning to try some recipes with "aqua faba" (it means "bean water")

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  2. In the height of summer aconites might go unnoticed but they flower so early in the year that there are few things to overshadow them (literally as well as metaphorically). I like them because their green ruff is as shiny as their yellow petals which make them glint when you walk by. Such a good tune to go with the words of the hymn.

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  3. It is a lovely little tune, isn't it?

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