Weight Of The World (2017)
For string quartet and narrator
commissioned by Circadian Quartet
Based on the poetry by Hafiz and Allen Ginsberg
Song
Allen Ginsberg
The weight of the world is love.
Under the burden of solitude,
under the burden of dissatisfaction
the weight,
the weight we carry
is love.
Who can deny?
In dreams
it touches the body,
in thought constructs
a miracle, in imagination
anguishes till born
in human—
looks out of the heart
burning with purity—
for the burden of life
is love,
but we carry the weight wearily,
and so must rest
in the arms of love at last,
must rest in the arms of love.
No rest without love,
no sleep without dreams
of love— be mad or chill
obsessed with angels or machines,
the final wish
is love
—cannot be bitter,
cannot deny,
cannot withhold
if denied:
the weight is too heavy must give
for no return as thought
is given in solitude
in all the excellence of its excess.
The warm bodies shine together
in the darkness, the hand moves
to the center of the flesh,
the skin trembles in happiness
and the soul comes joyful to the eye—
yes, yes, that’s what
I wanted,
I always wanted,
I always wanted,
to return
to the body
where I was born.
Ghazal
Hafiz
Come, boy, and pass the wine around –
Love seemed a simple game
When I encountered it …. but then
The difficulties came!
In longing for the musky scent
The breeze brings from her hair,
Such blood wells up in lovers’ hearts,
Such suffering and despair….
What can ensure my happiness,
At love’s stage, in my heart?
When every instant now the bell
Cries: “Load up, to depart!”
And if the wine-seller says wine
Should dye your prayer mat … dye it!
Pilgrims should know each stage’s rule
And seek to satisfy it.
On this dark night, amidst these waves,
The whirlpool’s fearsome roar
What can they know of our distress
Who watch us from the shore?
In all I’ve done, I’ve pleased myself,
It’s ruined my good name –
The secret ’s out, and everywhere
Men talk about my shame.
Don’t hide from him you seek, Hafez;
You cannot hope to find
The One you’re looking for until
You leave the world behind.
