The Word in the Snow (Part One)

PART I: The Word in the Snow

This all began one Christmas morn
When snow lay on the ground:
The island like an empty page,
The bells the only sound.

Behind a maid, a fisher came
As through the snow she led;
From time to time she twisted round
Or blithely turned her head…

So bending at her slender waist
A word in snow she wrote –
Then with a glance and flick of hair,
Away the maid did float.

The fisher trudged in heavy boots,
Each print a dungeon lock;
And when he stumbled on the word,
His legs were clamped with shock.

There gazing on those strokes in white,
His heart was set aflame:
The word he read a message sent –
The letters spelled his name.

From then, the fisher Gilliat
Did dream of Deruchette:
His name there writ upon the snow
He never would forget.

But by the spring the butterfly
Had fluttered back to play:
The winter snows seemed long ago,
His name melted away.

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As promised, a preview of the first of Charlie's illustrations! This is the first section in the ballad after the Prologue, describing how the fisherman Gilliat fell in love with the beautiful maid Deruchette. Stay tuned for more previews of the illustrations and the ballad in the coming days...

The Prologue

PROLOGUE

The priest in his confession box
Was all alone that night
When the footsteps on the flagstones
Fell loud as hammer strikes.

They pounded through the open nave
Until they reached the door;
Those steps echoed inside the box
And shook it to its core.

The priest was all alone that night
As slowly he slid the screen,
Revealing through the grille a shape
Too shadowed to be seen.

“Forgive me, father,” said the shape,
“Against the Lord I’ve sinned.”
The voice whispered so low it seemed
The air itself had thinned.

“Tell me, my son, what you have done:
Your soul shall be absolved.”
But through the grille, the shape stayed still –
The heart of the priest grew cold.

The candles quivered in their stands;
At length the shape did speak:
“My story you must hear before
Forgiveness I can seek.”

The voice, the grille, that shape so still –
Inside the priest felt locked:
He watched the candles flicker like
The ticking of a clock.

“Then tell your story,” said the priest
Aware he had no choice:
He listened captive at the grille
And so began the voice…

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This is the opening of the ballad, set in a church confessional box. We were lucky enough to count with the services of Father Michael Hore of St Joseph's to give a really authentic voice and presence to this part in the film. The Prologue and the Epilogue of The Soul of the Sea are new additions to Victor Hugo's original tale and one of the main reasons we felt that it was more appropriate to give the ballad a slightly modified title to the novel The Toilers of the Sea. I hope that they will provide an interesting path into the past for new readers: after all, the priest is hearing the story for the first time too...

In the Press again

We are in the Press again today - at the bottom of the Arts page - a nice photo of Pete who quite literally stands out of the page, and some good comments from volunteers both young and old(er).

Tomorrow I'll be publishing the Prologue here, followed by the first part together with the first of Charlie's illustrations on Saturday. Stay posted!

Poster and Invites Ready

We've finished the poster to promote the exhibition! A big thankyou to James Colmer, our graphic designer, who's really excelled himself with this one.

The illustration, which shows Gilliat wrestling with the devil fish in Part X, will also form the backdrop for the invitations. Charlie has painted another 15 pictures to tell the story alongside the ballad, some of which we'll be previewing here over the next few days. Stay posted! If you were a reader at the weekend, there'll be an invite in the post for you in the next few days.

In other news, Pete and Magnus have returned to the Town Church under cover of darkness to film the prologue and epilogue with Father Michael: these scenes will be candlelit and have quite a different atmosphere to the main story...

A Big Thankyou

A big thankyou to everyone who took part in yesterday's filming at the Town Church.

The readings were of an incredibly high quality given the tight schedule within which volunteers had to prepare their verses. We had close to 50 volunteers and it was terrific to have such a variety of ages, faces and voices: it really brought the story back to life.

Stay posted this week for some previews of the illustrations in the exhibition as well as the poster which will be going up around the island to promote it.

Next week I will be posting some excerpts from the ballad so people can get an idea of the different sections of the story ahead of the opening evening on Friday 3rd October.

All readers are of course invited to the opening and welcome to bring family and friends. If readers bringing extra guests could let us know, this would be a big help in staying on top of numbers and refreshments:

speak@soulofthesea.co.uk

Lights, Camera... Action!

We are all set now for the recording of the ballad at the Town Church this Saturday, sponsored by the Guernsey Arts Commission.

Magnus has been surveying the church this week with Pete Root from Paul and Peter Productions and they have found some great spots for readers to perform.

At the latest count, we have close to 50 volunteers to read, which is fantastic news. Special thanks go to the many readers who have phoned up to lend their voices after reading the coverage in the Press or hearing it on the radio. It's been inspiring to hear people's connections with the novel and memories of reading Toilers. Les Beaucamps High have also provided a welcome boost to our numbers with around 20 students participating. There are a couple of starlets from La Mare De Carteret High coming down too.

Thanks too to Richard De La Rue of the International Victor Hugo festival who is plugging us in his newsletters. In return, we are encouraging those interested to pick up a leaflet at the church ahead of next week's wonderful music festival in the island.

Stay posted next week for photos of Saturday's reading, the exhibition's poster, and some excerpts from the ballad.

A la perchoine!

In the Press / On the Radio

'The Soul of the Sea' is featured in today's Guernsey Press. The story is on page 16 of the paper, leading the arts coverage.

Magnus will also be speaking on BBC Radio Guernsey tomorrow (Thursday) at around 10.15am.

We are currently seeking islanders to come forward to take part in our film of the ballad: you can find more details in the post below.

To register your interest, send an email with your name and age to:

speak@soulofthesea.co.uk

Deadline to register is Monday 8th September.