A Place of Brightness: she walks in beauty

Saturday, June 18, 2016

She Walks in Beauty - An Original Song by Keith Massey

I love making music and, like any artist, I find joy in sharing whatever talents I may have with others.

So in the interest in better publicizing my album, Vivamus, Amemus, Oremus, I am crafting notices which pair a visual selected to match each particular song, along with a detailed description of my musical rendition.

In my song She Walks in Beauty, I set Lord Byron's famous poem by that title to music with an original melody. I pair my description of this composition with a lovely painting by Constantine Lvovich. Click to learn more about this impressive artist.

My album includes another original melody for Catullus 5, arguably the greatest love poem ever written. He begins that poem by telling his lover "Let us Live (Vivamus)" and "Let us Love (Amemus)." I've titled my album as a tribute to this line. Since my album also features my rendition of three famous hymns, the title also includes the Latin word for "Let us Pray (Oremus)."

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

She Walks in Beauty, Like the Night

Lord Byron's, She Walks in Beauty, is a lovely piece of poetry, filled with rich and emotional imagery.

Here is the poem.

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.

On my recent album, Vivamus, Amemus, Oremus, I include an original song which uses She Walks in Beauty for its lyrics. You can listen to it for free in this video and stream it on Spotify or download it on iTunes or Amazon.

In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!