Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Anchored deals with one of the great questions of humanity and religion: if one is certain of a paradise beyond, why suffer through this life? Dunbar answers “you”. We do not know whether he addresses a friend, a lover, or an idea; we merely know he has found something that matters enough to overcome the suffering that life puts us through. Though I do not share Dunbar’s certainty that there is joy and peace awaiting us after death, I share his assertion that some things in this world make life worth living.

The piano plays two parts in this piece: that of the sea, representing life, and that of the “Sun of sweeter life”, representing death. At the emotional climax of the piece, the piano drops away completely and the choir sings “I could not choose to go beyond your call”, ushering back the opening music of the sea, demonstrating the triumph of life.