"BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN"

BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

Before the world began
Lord, breathe life
Over the land*
Before there was a heaven or an earth
There was only the blue sea
And in the center of the sea stood a green tree.
And on this green tree sat three doves
And the three doves deliberated
And deliberated as to how the earth should be created:
"Let's dive down to the bottom of the sea
And get a few grains of fine sand
These grains we'll sow
Creating a fertile land.
Let's also get golden stones
These stones we'll toss into the air
Creating the bright heavens.
Oh, the bright heavens, a sun full of light.
Oh, a sun full of light and moon so bright
Oh, a bright moon and bright stars.
Oh, bright stars and shimmering galaxies."

* refrain is repeated after every line

traditional winter song
the oldest version of this text is found
in the Bernatsky Book of Carols (1693)
translated from Ukrainian
by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps