Flowers Of The Rainbow (in praise of iris)
Duration: 3 mins 29 secs
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About this item
Description: | A meditation on the iris and the rainbow in belief |
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Created: | 2018-11-08 14:25 | ||||||
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Collection: | The Ensonglopedia of Plants | ||||||
Publisher: | University of Cambridge | ||||||
Copyright: | John Hinton | ||||||
Language: | eng (English) | ||||||
Keywords: | iris; iridaceae; | ||||||
Credits: |
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Transcript
Transcript:
Goddess of the Rainbow
I invoke you
Won’t you shine your rays of bright refracted light
Upon our plight
And help us mortal souls
To chart our way to goals
Beyond the toils and tribulations
We encounter in our earthbound brick plantations.
I wait patiently for you to cast your beam across the sky,
And that is why
I turn my back upon the Sun
Once it’s begun
To rain.
Oh when I strain to cry your name
Let not my supplication be in vain.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
The Norsemen thought
You were a sort
Of bridge from mortal lands
To Asgard
Guarded by the loyal Heimdall.
Myanmar’s Kariang people thought you were a child-devouring demon.
Aboriginal Australians tell stories in their Dreaming
Of the giant Rainbow Serpent who created the whole Universe.
Indigenous Hawaiians called you Kaikamahine Anuenue, the rainbow maiden.
Hindus know you as the bow of Indra.
Irish legends told in times of old of pots of gold at rainbow’s end
Which drove rapacious men in search of riches round the bend.
In Buddhism, you represent ascent towards Enlightenment.
The Cherokee see you a great coat-hem sported by the Sun
In Chinese folklore you’re two star-crossed lovers reunited when rainbows are sighted.
But to me
And all who still adhere to Greek mythology
You have one name
A name I now proclaim
Unto the heavens.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
Please grace us with your face,
Erase all trace of pain with your embrace
And lead us onwards to your irridescent place.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
Though old gods die when we neglect them
And deficiently respect them
There are ways to resurrect them
If we keep their names alive.
As the scourge of time devours
Other gods, you’ll keep your powers
If we propagate your flowers
You’ll survive.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
I invoke you
Won’t you shine your rays of bright refracted light
Upon our plight
And help us mortal souls
To chart our way to goals
Beyond the toils and tribulations
We encounter in our earthbound brick plantations.
I wait patiently for you to cast your beam across the sky,
And that is why
I turn my back upon the Sun
Once it’s begun
To rain.
Oh when I strain to cry your name
Let not my supplication be in vain.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
The Norsemen thought
You were a sort
Of bridge from mortal lands
To Asgard
Guarded by the loyal Heimdall.
Myanmar’s Kariang people thought you were a child-devouring demon.
Aboriginal Australians tell stories in their Dreaming
Of the giant Rainbow Serpent who created the whole Universe.
Indigenous Hawaiians called you Kaikamahine Anuenue, the rainbow maiden.
Hindus know you as the bow of Indra.
Irish legends told in times of old of pots of gold at rainbow’s end
Which drove rapacious men in search of riches round the bend.
In Buddhism, you represent ascent towards Enlightenment.
The Cherokee see you a great coat-hem sported by the Sun
In Chinese folklore you’re two star-crossed lovers reunited when rainbows are sighted.
But to me
And all who still adhere to Greek mythology
You have one name
A name I now proclaim
Unto the heavens.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
Please grace us with your face,
Erase all trace of pain with your embrace
And lead us onwards to your irridescent place.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!
Though old gods die when we neglect them
And deficiently respect them
There are ways to resurrect them
If we keep their names alive.
As the scourge of time devours
Other gods, you’ll keep your powers
If we propagate your flowers
You’ll survive.
Iiiiiiiris! Iiiiiiiris!