Ezequiel Viñao The Wanderer Chanticleer
THE WANDERER (excerpt) for a cappella voices from a tenth century anglosaxon text Oft the lone one yearns for grace the Maker s mercy though long his oars must first stir the frostcold sea, with anxious heart, o er ocean way to fare the paths of exile. Fate is fixed So said a wanderer, remembering woe, cruel carnage, dear kinsmen s death: Oft I must lament my misery alone, before dawn s light. None now lives to whom I dare openly express my inmost thoughts. In truth I know it well befits a noble warrior to guard close his heart s key, restrain his thoughthorde, resolve what he will. A desperate mind cannot withstand destiny, nor tempestuous soul oppose fate. Hence ambitious men must keep somber moods remote within their hearts. And so I, oft miserable, home bereft, far from kinsmen, must also fasten my feelings with fetters, for long it is since earth s darkness enfolded my lord and I fared forth, poor, winterwearied, onward bound o er t
|