The brier and the rose

They buried her in the old churchyard

They buried him in the choir

And from his grave grew a red red rose

From her grave a green briar

They grew and grew to the steeple top

Till they could grow no higher

And there they twined in a true love's knot

Red rose around green briar

The songs we covered this week shared similar themes - they were all about love with a dark twist. Barbara Allen is about a sickly young man named William who tells Barbara Allen that he loves her, and that her love is the only thing that can make him better.  He dies after she rejects him and she soon kills herself after.

I enjoyed the debate we had about Barbara last week in class.  Some people argued that Barbara was cruel for not reciprocating William's love and for making him die.  Others argued that Barbara was narcissistic for thinking that William died because of her.  William would have died either way.  Other people thought William was inconsiderate for telling Barbara that he loved her on his deathbed - that that was unfair for him to do to her.

Overall, the song paints a dark image for Barbara.  Out of William's grave grows a red rose, while out of her's grows a brier.  In my piece for this week I wanted to represent the rose and the briar through different mediums that spoke to their inherent qualities.  I carved the brier into the wood I used to create a rough texture and painted the rose to create a soft and bright appearance.