Channeling George Eliot

Last night was such a lovely evening of stories, poems and songs at BON downtown Charlottesville. Opening the show was poet David Vaughn Straughn who came all the way from Brooklyn, NY to be with us. Sharing the evening was Jona Noelle of the poetry duo The Fire Tigers. I sang some of my new songs as well as songs that have been with me for awhile.  I enjoyed sharing some of my newest works in progress which are poems by George Eliot I set to music.

This past spring I went looking for poems to set to music and wanted to find something old enough to not worry about copyright issues. It seemed that everyone I thought of like Rumi, Hafiz, Elizabeth Barrett Brown, The Brontes, etc had been done already. Then I found a bunch of poems by George Eliot.  She is mostly known for her novels from the Victorian Era, "Middlemarch" and  "Adam Bede".  Her real name is Mary Ann Evans but she published under a man's name so that her work would be taken seriously.

As I worked on some of the melodies for her poems, I really felt as though I could have written these words.  One of the collaborations in particular came out that way. As I sang Eliot's words with my melody last night, I felt that it was my own work. One of the audience members also said this.

Here is the poem I am referring to:

Count That Day Lost by George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun 

And count the acts that you have done, 

And, counting, find 

One self-denying deed, one word 

That eased the heart of him who heard, 

One glance most kind 

That fell like sunshine where it went -- 

Then you may count that day well spent.



But if, through all the livelong day,

You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay -- 

If, through it all 

You've nothing done that you can trace

That brought the sunshine to one face-- 

No act most small 
That helped some soul and nothing cost -- 

Then count that day as worse than lost.

I will record these poems someday soon! In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying our lovely autumn season!