{"id":3813,"date":"2011-06-11T07:48:42","date_gmt":"2011-06-11T11:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=3813"},"modified":"2011-06-11T07:48:42","modified_gmt":"2011-06-11T11:48:42","slug":"the-rider-chronicles-3-a-song-for-rider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=3813","title":{"rendered":"The Rider Chronicles 3 – A Song for Rider"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Click to play the soundtrack for this post):\u00a0\u00a0O, My Luve’s Like A Red, Red Rose<\/a><\/p>\n

I held my newborn grandson, looked at his peaceful, sweet face and wanted to sing, but what song?\u00a0 I remember singing little made-up nonsense tunes to our children when they were babies.\u00a0 I thought through the ones I have memorized and hit on “Red, Red, Rose” by Robert Burns, a love song I first learned for Rider’s grandmother, my wife.\u00a0 Amazing how it fit at that moment.\u00a0 I could hardly finish it, I was so moved by the infant, the song and that moment.\u00a0 I could only sing it softly there in the hospital room, for the baby’s ears alone.<\/p>\n

O my luve’s like a red, red, rose, that’s newly sprung in June
\n<\/em>My luve’s like the melodie, that’s sweetly play’d in tune<\/em><\/p>\n

So pink and perfect and beautiful this little one in my arms, he is at this moment like a newly emerged flower, a precious bud, just opened.\u00a0 Funny that it’s almost June now.\u00a0 What a wonderful spring gift you are, child.\u00a0 And somehow in a way that surprises me, catches me off guard, you make my heart and voice sing.<\/p>\n

As fair art thou my bonny child*, so deep in luve am I,
\nAnd I will love you still, my child**, ’till a the seas gang dry<\/em><\/p>\n

We’ve just met but somehow, I’ve known you all my my life.\u00a0 Burns’s exaggeration, “’till all the seas gang dry,” has always made me smile.\u00a0 I love his excess, how he lavished his emotion through his poetry and songs.\u00a0 The passion flowing through these words fits this moment perfectly.<\/p>\n

Till a’ the seas gang dry my dear, and the rocks melt wi’ the sun<\/em>
\nAnd I will luve thee still my dear, while the sands o’ life shall run<\/em><\/p>\n

There is nothing in heaven or earth that could stop my love for you, dear child of my child.\u00a0 What you’ve done by being born is a sort of cataclysm.\u00a0 You’ve melted our hearts with your presence, turned the geography of our lives upside down.\u00a0 And yes, while the sands of life shall run, I will love you.<\/p>\n

And fare thee weel my only love, and fair thee weel a while<\/em>
\nAnd I will come again my love, tho’ ’twere ten thousand mile<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m sorry to have to be leaving you soon.\u00a0 You’re mine in a way, but not really.\u00a0 Even my own children were never “mine,” though I helped nurture and raise them.\u00a0 Your parents get the joyful burden of caring for you, watching you grow day by day, year by year.\u00a0 I will try not to be too far from you and I’ll try not to ever be gone for long.\u00a0 But even if I have to go away for a while, I’ll come back to see you, to talk and play, to hold you, to love you with the love that only a grandfather can give.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rider, like a red, red rose, newly sprung in (almost) June<\/p><\/div>\n

* The original word is “lass”
\n** The original word is “dear”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Click to play the soundtrack for this post):\u00a0\u00a0O, My Luve’s Like A Red, Red Rose I held my newborn grandson, looked at his peaceful, sweet face and wanted to sing, but what song?\u00a0 I remember singing little made-up nonsense tunes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[527],"tags":[528,573,530,572,571],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3813"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3813"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4308,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3813\/revisions\/4308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}