Never forgotten

As I write, I'm listening to a spirited performance of Jesu, meine Freude, a motet by J.S. Bach. I sang this once, aged eighteen. Once sung, never forgotten. I still feel the same about it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but whenever life becomes challenging I know it is always the same things that keep me sane: the moon, the sun and the stars and the landscapes they shine on, the knowledge that I have friends I can trust, and (above all) poetry and music. Not any old poetry and music, only the best.

The words from the motet that never fail to raise gooseflesh on me are as follows:

Trotz dem alten Drachen, trotz des Todes Rachen, trotz der Furcht dazu!
Tobe, Welt, und springe, ich steh' hier und singe,
Ich steh hier und singe in gar sichrer Ruh.

(Click here for a recording.)

Meaning:
In spite of the old dragon, in spite of death's revenge, in spite of our fear of it ... let the world rampage and quake as it may, here I'll stand and sing, here I stand and sing, secure in perfect peace (written in 1650).

I make no apologies if I have blogged about this before.