The Land Of Plenty

Debate on Leonard Cohen's poetry (and novels), both published and unpublished. Song lyrics may also be discussed here.
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carm
Posts: 254
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:47 pm

The Land Of Plenty

Post by carm »

Don’t really have the courage
To stand where I must stand.
Don’t really have the temperament
To lend a helping hand.

Don’t really know who sent me
To raise my voice and say:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

I don’t know why I come here,
Knowing as I do,
What you really think of me,
What I really think of you.

For the millions in a prison,
That wealth has set apart –
For the Christ who has not risen,
From the caverns of the heart –

For the innermost decision,
That we cannot but obey -
For what’s left of our religion,
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

I know I said I’d meet you,
I’d meet you at the store,
But I can’t buy it, baby.
I can’t buy it anymore.

And I don’t really know who sent me,
To raise my voice and say:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

For the innermost decision
That we cannot but obey
For what’s left of our religion
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHMxKgNbATo
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I don't know why I come here, Knowing as I do…
I don't know why I come here, Knowing as I do…
Last edited by carm on Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Yorkshire Lad
Posts: 817
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 11:28 pm
Location: yorkshire

Re: The Land Of Plenty

Post by Yorkshire Lad »

Carm
You haven't put a comment as to why you have posted this poem of Leonard's . Please enlighten me with your thoughts for this posting as I am intrigued . Was it just a moments lapse into complete serenity that Leonard's music gives to us or are you sending some other message . Whatever it is I thank you posting such a beautiful song/poem .I listened to Leonard singing it while I read the words and felt very humbled !
manchester, london,manchester , a mountain in Wales ,hills in Haiger
Be content with a mistake or two. Perfection holds no compromise. It's a prison for perfect people .Where the flag of insanity flies
carm
Posts: 254
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:47 pm

Re: The Land Of Plenty

Post by carm »

Yorkshire Lad writes: Please enlighten me with your thoughts for this posting as I am intrigued . Was it just a moments lapse into complete serenity that Leonard's music gives to us or are you sending some other message . Whatever it is I thank you posting such a beautiful song/poem .I listened to Leonard singing it while I read the words and felt very humbled !
Yorkshire Lad: I just simply wanted to post the poem and accompanying image as an avowal to the poet himself. So gentle is his pristine prayer; sublimely infused with wisdom, gracefully induced with a Cohenistic effect of charity.

When I view the image I am reminded of a paragraph of text from 'All the Year Round', A Weekly Journal that was conducted by Charles Dickens way back when. It reads…

But now when my ambition has been fulfilled, when my longing has been satisfied, when I have seen all the kingdoms of the world and the great cities therof, I come back to the scenes of my early days with something of the chastened feeling of the Prodigal Son. Not that I have wasted my substance in riotous living, or drunk too deeply of the cup of the world’s pleasures; not that I have proved to myself that all is vanity; but because I am weary of the noisy traffic of the great Highway and long for rest in quiet spots, where I can muse in peace amid the simple memories of the past.

…and so, perhaps Cohen is musing in peace, amid the many memories of his past, reflecting on ambitions fulfilled, longings slaked and upon observation, he decides to lift his voice and pray…
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Yorkshire Lad
Posts: 817
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 11:28 pm
Location: yorkshire

Re: The Land Of Plenty

Post by Yorkshire Lad »

carm wrote:
So gentle is his pristine prayer; sublimely infused with wisdom, gracefully induced with a Cohenistic effect of charity.


These words are so true !
You quoted Dickens and I am sure one hundred years from now people will be quoting "Cohen ". That is the measure of the man and as a mere mortal I am just grateful to have lived in the same time !
manchester, london,manchester , a mountain in Wales ,hills in Haiger
Be content with a mistake or two. Perfection holds no compromise. It's a prison for perfect people .Where the flag of insanity flies
carm
Posts: 254
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:47 pm

Re: The Land Of Plenty

Post by carm »

Yorkshire Lad writes: You quoted Dickens and I am sure one hundred years from now people will be quoting "Cohen ". That is the measure of the man and as a mere mortal I am just grateful to have lived in the same time !
The impetus underlying Cohen’s genius is his enduring search for pure truth and naked beauty. As his piously impassioned appetite submits to it all in the form of song, Leonard proffers insights of his soul laid bare. Like a shepperd, he endows each of us with his graceful, angelic gifts, laying them at our feet to be adored and/or explored. As he leads us to The Land Of Plenty we become more aware of the workings of his sublime, yet complex mind, and there lies the ancestry of this muse and our ardent devotion toward him. His verse will never evanesce, but will gather strength as it transforms by means of translation down through the ages.

Don’t really know who sent me
To raise my voice and say:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.


I wonder what it is that nurture’s genius? And what in turn nurture’s the muse?

Way back when, the Muses were brought to life to make the world disremember the evil, to relieve the sorrows, to praise the gods and especially the Olympian Gods' victory over their ancestors, the Titans. Apollo was the main teacher of the Muses. They were usually accompanying him and the Graces on their strolls and loved singing and dancing on soft feet on laurel leaves, while Apollo was playing the lyre.
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