If you have taken notice of the moon tonight, you will have seen its unusually bright and beaming smile. I feel blessed to be able to look outside the window and enjoy this peaceful night with its radiant glow that permeates the sky. Surely peace does not exist in all parts of the world, but it does tonight in my world. If I said that it is because everything in my life is swell, that would be very far from the truth. Things do not have to be in order to be peaceful at heart. Gazing into the starry night sky and my thoughts drenched in moonlight are plentiful reasons to delight in this moment.
Have you ever thought what life would be like if the moon decided to stop serving us? It ceaselessly orbits Earth to shed light on every being every day. Working tirelessly, it never requires us to give in return. How many people can you count that have remained truly loyal in your life? How many people have you loved sacrificially, not asking for anything in exchange? What changes would we see in humanity if you and I took initiative to become those that serve another just as the way the moon illuminates the world- selflessly?
Paul Verlaine is the poet of “Clair de Lune” (French for “moonlight”) and Claude Debussy is the mastermind evoking dreamy senses through his delicate melodies. Perhaps they, too, were on a quest to discover a new way of life, one that inspires others to be filled with light to share it abundantly with those that may otherwise be left in the dark.
| French | English translation |
|---|---|
| Votre âme est un paysage choisi Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,Au calme clair de lune triste et beau, Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau, Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres. |
Your soul is a chosen landscape Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go Playing the lute and dancing and almost Sad beneath their fanciful disguises.All sing in a minor key Of victorious love and the opportune life, They do not seem to believe in their happiness And their song mingles with the moonlight,With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful, That sets the birds dreaming in the trees And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy, The tall slender fountains among marble statues. |
ms. espressivo 