"Sleeps Unaware of the Clarion Call…"

Are you familiar with this line from an old song?  After 60 years of listening to the song I received some new insight that makes it more meaningful for me in this era.  

I will conclude with the song, but first let me share the insights with you by paraphrasing the song and its insights.  Then when you watch the song at the end it may help you to become more awake.

The medieval version of this song was about two lovers who had broken up and now set impossible tasks for each other in order to express the impossibility of their reconciliation. Woven into the modern lyrics is a second set of lyrics to make a striking counter point. So this song is actually two songs sung at the same time.

Let’s break down one interpretation of this song.

Spirit-being are you going to where people entertain themselves with song, dance, music, and stories by paid entertainers?  Well, enjoy your comfort, you are forgiven. Have strength, wisdom, and good health and may you remember the love, fidelity, and courage you once had. Remember the ONE-Spirit to the Spirit-ones who live there who once were a true love of mine.  Though they now endeavor to forget me and set conditions for reconciliation that they perceive as impossible.

For example, making a fine linen shirt without seams or fancy needlework. Wash it in a dry well where no spring is, or where no drop of rain ever fell.  Then dry it in a bush which has never blossomed since humanity arose.

Or find an acre of land that exists between the salt water and the sea strand – the line formed by the water and the beach.  Then plow it with a ram’s horn and sow the whole thing with ONE seed.  Finally harvest it with a leather sickle and tie it all up with a peacock feather, then, when this work is finished come and receive the linen shirt and be her true love.  Such impossible undertakings are believed to result in true love and reconciliation.

The original song paints a portrait of “irreconcilable differences.”  This “warfare” is reinforced by a second song woven into the lyrics that paints an image of a hill deep in a forest where sparrow tracks cover a snow crested hill.  This snow crested hill is the resting place of “the child of the mountain who sleeps unaware of the clarion call.”  

The line describes a dead child.  The "child of the mountain" sleeps peacefully, unaware of the "clarion call" — which is a military bugle or war horn — because the child of the mountain is resting in its grave.   

 

Meanwhile, leaves fall and cover the grave like silvery tears, warriors polish their weapons and the conflict continues.  War bellows in scarlet battalions, generals order their soldiers to kill, and to fight for a cause that they have long ago forgotten.  The warring has become so routine that the Spirit-ones have forgotten why the war is being fought in the first place.

This song is based upon the medieval song Scarborough fair.  Here are the lyrics to a current era version of this song, by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there

She once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt

(On the side of a hill, in the deep forest green)

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

(Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested ground,)

Without no seams nor needle work

(...Blankets and bedclothes, the child of the mountain)

Then she'll be a true love of mine

(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call).  

Tell her to find me an acre of land

(On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

(Washes the grave with silvery tears)

Between the salt water and the sea strand

(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)

Then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather

(War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions)

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

(Generals order their soldiers to kill)

And gather it all in a bunch of heather

(And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)

Then she'll be a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there

She once was a true love of mine

• Imagine that Scarborough Fair is life on this Earth.
• Imagine that the ONE is the Great Spirit of the Universe.
• Imagine that the Spirit-ones are issued a “wake up call” regarding their “irreconcilable differences” to wake up from spiritual complacency, turn away from the self-centered ways of the world, and realign with the design of the ONE.
• Imagine that “Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme” is a medieval shorthand calling for comfort, forgiveness, strength, wisdom, good health, and the recollection of the love, fidelity and courage once had when unified with the ONE Great Spirit. 
• The specific herbs and their traditional meanings include:
  Parsley: Symbolizes comfort and the soothing of bitterness.  Historically, it was believed to represent the removal of bitter feelings or sorrow in a relationship.
  Sage: Represents strength.  In the language of herbs, sage is a symbol of virtue, long life, and mental or spiritual strength to endure separation.
  Rosemary: The ultimate symbol of love, remembrance, and fidelity.  It was frequently used in medieval and Renaissance wedding traditions to ensure a partner never forgets their true love.
  Thyme: Signifies courage.  It was associated with bravery and the bravery needed to endure an impossible task.

Imagine this is a call to NOT be like the dead who are physically unaware of anything, but to choose to be comforted, forgive, be strong, seek wisdom, good health, and to recall the love fidelity and courage of unification with the ONE.

Now listen to the song and read the lyrics:

There is wisdom in this song.