This is actually a song about salvation, more specifically, a song about Jesus Christ. Cohen had two predominant themes in his writings: love and spirituality. Sometimes these would mingle and you could interpret the song as addressing one or the other, but this particular one is all about spirituality. Read the lyrics again and think about Jesus on the cross. The chorus in particular, tells you it's referring to the Christ:
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love (Jesus, represents life (chosen one) and death (frozen)
Oh tangle of matter and ghost (again, Jesus embodies both life and death, he is a tangle of these two dichotomies)
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints (self explanatorg)
And the whole broken-hearted host (The pain of humanity/God carried in Christ)
Gentle this soul
Plug away at the rest: the rose on a ladder of thorns is Jesus at the cross.
Lay your rose by the fire - in the bible, fire represents the Holy Spirit and Christ baptizes with fire.
The letter could be an allusion to the "word", which is Jesus: in the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
Now for the Window. You can look out of a window but it also reflects in to you. I think in the first stanza the window is a vehicle for the Christ's moment of doubt, caught in the vanity of wanting to live/doubting God's word, but darkness has fallen and the thorns are in his side. It is done. The second stanza opens with his resurrection into a New Jerusalem the cloud of unknowing is lifted (Jesus has overcome his doubts and now "knows" God).
This is actually a song about salvation, more specifically, a song about Jesus Christ. Cohen had two predominant themes in his writings: love and spirituality. Sometimes these would mingle and you could interpret the song as addressing one or the other, but this particular one is all about spirituality. Read the lyrics again and think about Jesus on the cross. The chorus in particular, tells you it's referring to the Christ:
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love (Jesus, represents life (chosen one) and death (frozen) Oh tangle of matter and ghost (again, Jesus embodies both life and death, he is a tangle of these two dichotomies) Oh darling of angels, demons and saints (self explanatorg) And the whole broken-hearted host (The pain of humanity/God carried in Christ) Gentle this soul
Plug away at the rest: the rose on a ladder of thorns is Jesus at the cross.
Lay your rose by the fire - in the bible, fire represents the Holy Spirit and Christ baptizes with fire. The letter could be an allusion to the "word", which is Jesus: in the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
Now for the Window. You can look out of a window but it also reflects in to you. I think in the first stanza the window is a vehicle for the Christ's moment of doubt, caught in the vanity of wanting to live/doubting God's word, but darkness has fallen and the thorns are in his side. It is done. The second stanza opens with his resurrection into a New Jerusalem the cloud of unknowing is lifted (Jesus has overcome his doubts and now "knows" God).
Hope this helps.
@PicoMania -- nice explanation -- quite consistent with the detailed exegesis provided by Doron Cohen in the article "Speaking Sweetly from 'The Window': Reading Leonard Cohen’s Song," available for download at academia.edu -- https://www.academia.edu/8553088/Speaking_Sweetly_from_The_Window_Reading_Leonard_Cohen_s_Song
@PicoMania -- nice explanation -- quite consistent with the detailed exegesis provided by Doron Cohen in the article "Speaking Sweetly from 'The Window': Reading Leonard Cohen’s Song," available for download at academia.edu -- https://www.academia.edu/8553088/Speaking_Sweetly_from_The_Window_Reading_Leonard_Cohen_s_Song