The Art of Love: A song for Anne
The short poem which appears at the end of this posting is a villanelle I wrote based on Elizabeth Bishop’s sublime work “One Art.”
It is dedicated to my wife Anne, who has recently been diagnosed with and operated for sudden-onset brain cancer.
The extraordinary Canadian singer/ songwriter/ musician Andy McClelland has created a wonderful song version of my poem.
Give it a listen here:
These are the song lyrics. The original poem follows.
The Art of Love
(Robert McBryde; Andy McClelland)
The art of love is not hard to master
So many things they speak with intent
To be loved but we should love them faster
Love something every day. Let the luster of kind people
Light up the chats so quickly spent
The art of love is not hard to master
Go loving deep loving fast
Places, and names, and where it was you traveled
Loving these things brings smiles and laughter
I’ve loved my long-lost family and look
The next-to-last of my dear cousins, she understands the concept
That the art of love is not hard to master
I’ve loved six cities all lovely ones
And roamed vast realms, three rivers, a continent
And I miss them all, the smiles and the laughter
But loving you, the gentle voice, the gestures I adore
I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
That the art of love is not hard to master
As easy as a smile and laughter
Here are Andy’s explanations of the music behind the creation.
“The musical structure honours the Villanelle concept:
A verse of 3 lines is 12 bars (48 beats) with each line being 4 bars (16 beats).
If you count it in half time (the bass is playing 1/2 time); it’s 6 bars (24 beats) per verse with each line being 2 bars (8 beats).
The last verse is, of course, 4 lines so 16 bars or 64 beats. Half time is 8 bars or 32 beats.
I also added another acoustic guitar. It’s a baritone – tuned a 4th lower than a normal guitar. Also uke. And I redid the bass.
The lead instrument on the original was the acoustic lap steel (Hawaiian) guitar. I replaced it with what is called a square neck resonator or dobro. It’s a similar instrument in that it’s played on the lap with a barre but it has this “resonator” (like an aluminum “speaker” on with bridge sits) which makes it twangier. It’s used a lot in bluegrass. Jerry Douglas is the king of dobro. It’s also in a different tuning than the Hawaiian and a slightly different technique. In the picture, the Hawaiian is on the left and the dobro on the right.”
Here is my original poem, upon which the song is based:
The Art of Loving
The art of loving is not so hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be loved that we should but love them so much faster.
Love someone every day. Accept the lustre
of kind and friendly people, the chats so quickly spent.
The art of loving is not so hard to master.
Then practice loving deeper, loving faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. Loving these won’t bring disaster.
I’ve loved my long-lost family. And look! The last, or
next-to-last, of my dear cousins, has yet to relent.
The art of loving is not so hard to master.
I’ve loved six cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I’ve roamed, three rivers, a continent.
Now gone, I miss them, but leaving them was no disaster.
—But loving you (the gentle voice, the gestures
I adore) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of loving is not too hard to master
though its ultimate loss through death is (Write it!) a disaster.
Villanelle
A French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas. These two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain. See “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art,” and Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “The House on the Hill.”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/villanelle
The Art of Loving – Robert McBryde
Your friend,
Robert
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/
