A Sad Pavan For These Distracted Times
An almost April falls as if the season
were feeble and elderly already.
It is a Pavan for a dying princess;
see how she is laid upon the yellowing grass
her beauty reflected like icy droplets on Spring stems.
Do you hear the sad music?
Even death has its music,
even the smallest of germs
even the invisible footprints
of a killer virus have a sad music.
We are troubled, for the days look in vain
for a new tune to sing.
When April is in her bright green flood
perhaps the Princess will revive
with fresh blooms in her flaxen hair,
maybe this sad Pavan will learn to dance again?
~~~~~
The title of this poem is taken from a 16th Century English composers work.
The Princess allusions references obliquely a work by the composer Ravel.
A ‘Pavan’ is a slow, stately court dance of the 1500s and 1600s, usually in duple meter.
~~
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