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A Gift

By mike In

A Gift was commissioned by Lauren Anderson to celebrate the 60^th Anniversary of the Singing City Choir of Philadelphia.  It is a setting of a poem by A. Herbert Haslam, Lauren’s grandfather and one of the founding members of the chorus.  In writing the piece, I sought to emphasize the searching, hesitant sensuality of the poem, as well as evoke a sense of opening and closing, of a flower struggling to bloom.

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A Gift

Only a rose of crimson hue,

Lying cupped within my hand,

Only a rose, but kissed by you,

Ah! rose, did you understand?

 

Only a rose of exquisite beauty

Fragrant, pure and sweet.

Only a rose entrusted with duty,

Open your depths I entreat.

 

Only a rose with petals so tender

Holding its message like dew,

Just like the rose is the love of the sender,

Flooding my life anew.

 

For hidden within thy deepest folds,

The heart of you I found,

Only a rose, but a heart of gold

Lies encased in your crimson gown. 

– A. Herbert Haslam