A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day

[Mhd shaher]

Hi..
Can you help me in analysing this poem line by line in deep explanation?:


A SONG FOR ST. CECILIA'S DAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1687
by: John Dryden

• • I. ROM harmony, from heavenly harmony, This universal frame began: When nature underneath a heap Of jarring atoms lay, And could not heave her head, The tuneful voice was heard from high, "Arise, ye more than dead." Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry, In order to their stations leap, And Music's power obye. From harmony, from heavenly harmony, This universal frame began; From harmony to harmony Through all the compass of the notes it ran, The diapason closing full in man. II. What passion cannot music raise and quell? When Jubal struck the chorded shell, His listening brethren stood around, And, wondering, on their faces fell To worship that celestial sound: Less than a God they thought there could not dwell Within the hollow of that shell, That spoke so sweetly, and so well. What passion cannot Music raise and quell? III. The trumpet's loud clangor Excites us to arms With shrill notes of anger And mortal alarms. The double, double, double beat Of the thundering drum Cries, hark! the foes come: Charge, charge! 'tis too late to retreat. IV. The soft complaining flute, In dying notes discovers The woes of hopeless lovers; Whose dirge is whisper'd by the warbling lute. V. Sharp violins proclaim Their jealous pangs and desperation, Fury, frantic indignation, Depth of pains, and height of passion, For the fair, disdainful dame. VI. But oh! what art can teach, What human voice can reach, The sacred organ's praise? Notes inspiring holy love, Notes that wing their heavenly ways To mend the choirs above. VII. Orpheus could lead the savage race; And trees uprooted left their place, Sequacious of the lyre: But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher; When to her organ vocal breath was given, An angel heard, and straight appeared, Mistaking earth for heaven. Grand Chorus As from the power of sacred lays The spheres began to move, And sung the great Creator's praise To all the bless'd above; So when the last and dreadful hour This crumbling pageant shall devour, The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die, And Music shall untune the sky.

[Frank Antonson]

That's asking a lot.

I know a man, however, Terri Osman by name, who set this text to music.

He composed this piece for my choir, The Dutch Corner Choir, to perform. He is a composer who lives in Alum Bank, Pennsylvania, USA. He has a website. You might be able to have an interesting discussion with him.

[Gillnetter]

I can help you but it may require much work on your part. To understand this material, you should understand: the conventions of 16th Century English, the culture of the writer, the accepted feelings that people of that era had toward the church, a basic understanding of the Christian religion, and the impact of music on people of that era.

If you would like to proceed, I suggest that we move forward stanza by stanza as this will allow you sufficient time to do research.

[Mhd shaher]

I can help you but it may require much work on your part. To understand this material, you should understand: the conventions of 16th Century English, the culture of the writer, the accepted feelings that people of that era had toward the church, a basic understanding of the Christian religion, and the impact of music on people of that era.

If you would like to proceed, I suggest that we move forward stanza by stanza as this will allow you sufficient time to do research.

yes sir..
I am ready.. stanza by stanza..
and thank you so much..

[Gillnetter]

yes sir..
I am ready.. stanza by stanza..
and thank you so much..

To understand this poem a basic understanding of how people in 16th Century Europe were educated is required. Most people of that era could not read or write. Only the upper classes were educated. Those who were educated were expected to know about the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. In many parts of this work are references to these ancient peoples and to the Christian bible.

Saint Cecilia was thought to have lived in the Second Century. For unknown reasons she has been known as the saint of music.

From harmony, from heavenly harmony
[It was believed that music was a force in creating the universe. It was thought that the stars and their motions were accompanied by a harmony known as "the music of the spheres." Pythagoras, a famous mathematician, (5th Century) may have been the inspiration for the poet in the opening lines. Harmony leads to beauty and beauty leads to perfection.]

This universal frame began.
[The universal frame is the visible universe. Music helped form the universe]

When Nature underneath a heap
Of jarring atoms lay,
[Before nature became what it is now- when all was chaos and there was no order in the universe. The reference to “jarring” atoms is taken to mean that atoms (the small building blocks of the universe) were moving randomly.]

And could not heave her head,
The tuneful voice was heard from high:
"Arise, ye more than dead!"
[Before nature could move, a voice from above (heaven) was heard. “Arise” – wake up, get up, pay attention. “ye more than dead” – ye = you. You that are more than dead, you that are alive.
Pythagoras saw the universe as the manifestation of the heavenly harmony which he believed had held things together. Dryden has also used the Christian biblical story of Creation – when and how God made man]

Then cold and hot and moist and dry
In order to their stations leap,
And Music's power obey.
[Everything that was to become nature moved to what would become their place in the universe and followed the commands of music]

From harmony, from heavenly harmony
This universal frame began;
From harmony to harmony
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in Man.
[The diapason means here means all of the possible tones. The idea is that in man, the highest of God's creatures, are included all the virtues and powers of the lower creations – animals, plants, etc..]

The first part of this poem is about how the universe was formed with the assistance of music. There was chaos - no order - and then order came. Music, or tones, was a driving force behind the creation.

Let me know what parts you may not understand.

[Mhd shaher]

sir..
from the second part I didn't understand these three lines:

Less than a god they thought there could not dwell

Within the hollow of that shell
That spoke so sweetly and so well.

[Gillnetter]

sir..
from the second part I didn't understand these three lines:

Less than a god they thought there could not dwell

Within the hollow of that shell
That spoke so sweetly and so well.

Less than a god they thought there could not dwell
(They did not believe that anything less than a god could live (dwell) or reside
Within the hollow of that shell [The corded shell, i.e. the lyre. The first lyre was supposed to have been formed by drawing strings over a tortoise shell.)
That spoke so sweetly and so well. (They made such sweet [nice, comfortable, beautiful] music, and when the music was performed, it was performed in an excellent manner.

[Mhd shaher]

Very big thank you sir..
and there is a personal message in yours I sent you two days ago..

[Mhd shaher]

-Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in Man.
What do you mean by (compass) exactly?
and what do we mean by (closing full in man)?

[Gillnetter]

-Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in Man.
What do you mean by (compass) exactly?
and what do we mean by (closing full in man)?

The diapason means here the entire compass
of tones (compass here refers to all possible things - tones in this case. Consider a compass - a compass includes all possible points of direction). The idea is that in man, the highest of God's creatures, are included all the virtues and powers of the lower creation. All possible tones (sounds) are included, or were finshed, when man was created.