'Dante's Prayer' - My Song

"Dante's Prayer" by Loreena McKennitt

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and fire

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me
Please remember me

It's hard to describe why this song is my song. How to accurately portray the emotions this song evokes within my soul? The only way I can describe it is with an example that I'm pretty sure most people can understand.

Ireland.

When people think of Ireland, there's this sense of magic in their soul- this connection with the Earth and of returning to the days of wonder and mystery. Ireland is awe-inspiring because it makes one feel as if they've returned to the days of old, where Faeries ruled the world and Druids danced in ancient, wooded groves.

This song gives me the same peace in my spirit that thoughts of Ireland and being in Ireland give me: that sense of just 'right'- that my soul is happy, my soul is in harmony. Given that I am Pagan, these feelings of magick and a connection to the earth are awe-inspiring. It makes me feel like throwing myself to the wind and just dancing and connecting to everything around me. When I hear this song, I naturally fall into the spiral dance- a dance to invoke the powers of the planet and to bring balance to the human spirit. All I need to do is hear this song.

To look at the lyrics, however, there is a reason that it is this song, and not any other of Loreena McKennitt's songs, that has this effect upon my soul. In particular, the chorus:

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.

This speaks of both someone from the past calling out to us to remember them- to remember what it was they did on this planet. To hold to the old days and revere the planet the way it was meant to be revered- as the Mother of us all. All these people in the past who held these beliefs and possibly died for them. It's like they're calling out to me to remember them and to carry on what they did.

Another, more personal reason the chorus strikes a chord with me- Whenever I feel lonely, I go down to the beach and I sit there. Especially at night. I'll just sit there and watch the waves, and I'll remember the people I've known and loved over the years. Remember how they've touched me and how I hoped I've touched them. And it's just a moment for me to reflect.

The last line of the chorus "Please remember me", in particular, has emotional connections. I've lost a lot of friends over the years. Whether it be to bids for popularity or another group of people or even if they just moved away, I've lost a lot. A lot of people have used me and then left me when I've no longer served them a purpose. The line "please remember me" is heartwrenching for me because it's like reaching out to them and, in a sign of ever-loyal friendship and love, I forgive them and tell them to please just remember me. Which is what, inevitably happens. I let them go and leave me behind.

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

When the dark wood fell before me and all the paths were overgrown- when there have been problems and no one else can seem to break the quagmire, it is always I who inevitably gives something up. I bring a truce when the "priests of pride"- aka, the quarreling parties- "say there is no other way". I always work hard to break these sorrows- and it is definitely hard work. It could break a soul. But because it is who I am, I do it. And I do it gladly. Because I love my friends. I'm very loyal and I'm very loving. To break that vow of friendship and loyalty is a cardinal sin.

"I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars"

Sometimes I break down. It seems that I'm always putting work into maintaining friendships and, yet, I never get any recognition from my friends of their appreciation. Yearly...and I mean pretty much every year...my "friends" forget my birthday, forget to come to my party, forget to call me if I'm sick, etc. Yes, bad friends...it's not my fault- I am not a bad person. And that's what this stanza means to me. "I did not believe because I could not see"- I couldn't see that I was hurting myself by struggling to remain friends with these people. I couldn't see that it wasn't my fault that they would do these things for me.

I wish I could say that I had a particular person to dedicate the rest of the stanza to. However, that has not yet happened. I am loveless. I am, however, young. But, the rest of the stanza goes to the one or two people whom I can count as real friends. They were there for me. They showed me that I am a good person and that I am a loving, caring, loyal friend. They appreciated me. They remembered me.

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and fire

The "mountain" in this stanza is, to me, symbolic of my learning to get beyond the cruel things my supposed friends had done to me. Earlier in my life, it had killed me- it had severely crippled me in terms of making friends and being myself. This treatment had caused me to create a shell around myself. Instead, now, I have this mountain of caring and friendship for these people. And I stand atop that mountain- the bigger, better person for forgiving them and growing beyond their petty grievences.

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

These two stanzas serve to confirm the idea that friends and love are what make this life worth while. That, if we allow ourselves to hide, we will never fly- we will never truly live. The second stanza, in particular, strikes me as almost a prayer to some higher power- that magickal feeling I spoke of earlier appears most in this stanza and in the choral stanza- to grow beyond the cares of daily life. Not to forget them or remove ourselves from them, but to release ourselves from their tenuous grasp. To be able to forgive and love regardless.

Overall, this song to me just serves as my benediction for loving everyone regardless of how they treat me. I am often used. I am often discarded. However, I still love. I still reach out to these people, no matter how much they have hurt me, and I offer them my love. I forgive them. All I ask is that they remember me. I ask that they know that I will be there for them despite themselves.

Yes, it's probably a bad way to go through life. But I find myself incapable of not helping someone if they ask for it. And, thus, "Dante's Prayer" speaks to that need in me to continually love and care for those people- any people- whom I have come to care for despite any wrongdoing against me. I've always done it, and when I don't think I can go on, I, too, have my support system. This song really covers it all. Thus, it is "my song".