Courtyard Lullaby lyrics

Wherein the deep night sky

The stars lie in its embrace

The courtyard still in its sleep

And peace comes over your face

"Come to me," it sings 1

"Hear the pulse of the land

The ocean's rhythms pull

To hold your heart in its hand"

And when the wind draws strong

Across the cypress trees

The nightbirds cease their songs

So gathers memories

Last night you spoke of a dream

Where forests stretched to the east

And each bird sang its song

A unicorn 2 joined in a feast

And in a corner stood

A pomegranate tree 3

With wild flowers there

No mortal eye could see

Yet still some mystery befalls

Sure as the cock crows at dawn

The world in stillness keeps4

The secret of babes to be born

Come to me, my love

Hear the pulse of the land

The ocean's rhythms pull

To hold your heart in its hand

I heard an old voice say

"Don't go far from the land

The seasons have their way

No mortal can understand."

1. like any self-respecting courtyard, both in the European and Arab medieval tradition, in the center a fountain (or a well as in the cloisters of the monasteries) is built, I imagine that the fountain with its quiet gush sends the invitation to those who sleep in the palace to go down into the courtyard2. the irruption of the sacred in the dream3. the pomegranate is a tree with a double meaning fertility and death, sacred fruit, to the Mother Goddess and symbol of rebirth and regeneration4. a recall to the birth of Jesus

• Artist:Loreena McKennitt
• Album:The Visit (1991)