Winter Song Lyrics

Four Works of Art as the Seasons Go By

In Egyptian culture, there exist three seasons. Mesopotamia has only two seasons. In Australia, one speaks of five seasons, while the Greek and Chinese cultures are based on four seasons. The number changes according to the type of climate, but it is also linked to the vision of the world belonging to each culture, as well as to mythology and customs in a society. Here we are referring to the perspective of four seasons.

Summer

The famous aria Summertime The song was written like a lullaby. It is sung by a young mother, Clara, to her little boy. She wants to appease him and reassure herself while waiting with concern for her fisherman husband, who is caught in a storm at sea. The song’s lyrics illustrate a warm and reassuring atmosphere, free of worry—before the scene dramatically changes. ESCAPING: If the seasons of the year are compared to a lifetime, then the shift from summer to autumn is related to the changes from adolescence to adulthood. Icarus, a well-known figure from Greek mythology, symbolizes the one who tries to find his way out of his father's home. "Daedalus and Icarus," marble, 3 feet x 7 feet x 3 feet, Antonio Canova. (Artrenewal.org) , by the famous Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (1444–1510) still today sparks multiple understandings and interpretations. Botticelli uses characters from Greek mythology to illustrate spring. The scene is set in an orangery, in the heart of which is Venus, the goddess of love. Venus observes the characters passing before her eyes. On the right side of the painting is Zephyr, the god of the wind, appearing in the form of a blue-green creature. He is getting ready to blow the warm wind of spring, but apparently, his intentions are not innocent. He feels a desire that causes the nymph near him to flee. Flowers are coming out of her mouth that make the dress of the woman to her side—Flora, the goddess of flowers—more attractive. Botticelli describes spring as a scene of love. Zephyr is there, impassioned, but the movements of the figures in the painting are all turned toward Mercury, symbol of supreme wisdom, the love of knowledge, the love of God. The scene alludes to life as an ideal voyage, during which man confronts his desires to reach the spiritual ideal of reaching a higher realm.

Epilogue

The fact that the phenomenon of the seasons repeats itself is a source of inspiration, is full of hope. After each death, there is a renewal. After each end, there is a beginning. It is nature that encourages us to accept these qualities, to embrace them, and to see in change what is most constant in our life. Some will say that to divide the years’ climate into four, five, or six seasons is to limit oneself to the illusion that one can explain nature with laws, when everything appears in constant mutation. But it is through art that we see that it is these symbols and myths that preserve the memory of something primary, eternal, and infinite that goes beyond our day-to-day timeframe and leads us to a higher truth.