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The Sculptor

from St Thomas Story Songs by Hannah Martin

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I was hugely moved when I heard this story, about a beautiful memorial sculpture that lies in St Thomas church. Here is how Theatre Alibi tell it:

"From 1838 to 1845 the vicar of St Thomas Church was a man called John Medley. Sadly, in 1841 John Medley’s wife, Christiana, died at the young age of 34 from tuberculosis. Christiana's father was the prolific sculptor John Bacon Jr (the son of John Bacon, an even more well-known sculptor of the time). John Bacon Jr had an extensive career as a sculptor with six of his monuments in St. Paul's Cathedral and many more in Westminster Abbey.

After the death of his daughter, John Bacon Jr came out of retirement to carve a loving likeness of her sleeping form, a memorial in a medieval style, which was placed north of the altar in St Thomas Church. It is considered to be his masterpiece."

lyrics

The Sculptor

This stone is cold and hard my love; your cheeks were soft and warm
I will take this block of the cold hard clay, and carve your sleeping form
The sculptor breathes a little life into unfeeling clay
But he cannot give enough to mend the life taken away

When you were a little girl, you laughed, and danced, and played
If I could only make stone move, or cruel time betray
I'd turn it back to see you flushed with all of life before you
I'd lay my chisel down and never pick it up to mourn you

I've painted china pieces, I've worked marble and carved stone
I've drawn the gods from heaven and the kings from ancient Rome
But of all the things I've made you were my greatest work of art
Stone only mocks quietly the grieving in my heart

They say you are my masterpiece, but I carve because I must
Search for your lost shape amongst the splinters and the dust
So here is my remembrance, a heavy echo of your ghost
We are weighed down like stone by losing those we love the most
We are weighed down like stone by losing those we love the most

credits

from St Thomas Story Songs, released January 20, 2021
Words and music by Hannah Martin

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Edgelarks: Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin UK

Edgelarks fly in on the tailwind of BBC award winning duo Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin. Combining soulful original songwriting with deep folk roots and influences as diverse as Indian classical and American blues, this duo produce a sound like no other. ... more

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