Week 1, Thursday Lecture Dr.

H/106

The mindset, at least as presented in poetry, of the 15th and 16th centuries is somewhat
paradoxical:

• The everything/nothing dynamic: you are vital, beautiful, gifted—and you are clay,
forgotten, sunk in oblivion (“who are they?”). “Seize the day” idea competes with
“Prepare for the End” theme.
• Most poems are by Anonymous. Songs and ballads are popular. History loses track of
the author. The miscellany or anthology book of poetry that was popular in 16th century
didn’t lay much stress on particular authorship – the work is more important than the
creator. Lots of things are being translated into English from Italian and French, and the
author’s names lost.
• Yet poetry in the 15th and 16th century is increasingly a way of seeking favor, fame,
bettering one’s position, within the court. Poets were also supposed to be modest, put
little emphasis on their work; there was no such thing as the professional poet, and few
publications under individual names. Writing poetry was a skill that marked gentle birth,
education, the potential for leadership and advancement. It was similar in this way to
musical accomplishment.

The Ubi Sunt Theme (Lament): this theme is related to the elegy (we could see the ubi sunt
poem as a collective elegy for a whole group – the beautiful, the heroic, etc.), and comes from
the Latin “Ubi Sunt Qui Ante Nos Fuerunt” or “Where are those who came before us?” We will
look shortly at the poem by this title. But the theme itself concerns the transience of human life,
love, beauty, and pleasure (later writers will add art to this). Nothing of the mortal world lasts
or persists. There is no way to guarantee that memories of our character or our deeds will be
preserved. Most poems of this type, at least in the early period, counsel religious faith -- placing
of hope in the afterlife -- and avoiding sin, so as not to end up in hell. The Ubi Sunt poem we
read for today claims that we actually can know more about, and rest more securely in, the
condition of eternity than in our brief mortal present.

“Ubi Sunt Qui Ante Nos Fuerent”

This poem presents a beautiful picture of aristocratic life, of beauty, pleasure, wealth, gaiety,
mirth, dancing, music, etc. – but then accuses these beautiful ladies and gallant men of “taking
their pleasure here” and claims they are now lying in hell fire!!!

Moral: Joy without end lies with Christ in Heaven. But note the warrior motif even here – you
must do battle with the devil on the field of worldly vanity (vanity in a sense of that which passes
away, not conceitedness, for example). You must use the cross as your sword to fight the devil.

The elegy and the elegiac mode: In later English literature, elegy most often refers to the death
of a specific beloved person. But its original sense from the Latin and Greek was associated with
war as well. Before battle, Greek warriors were fortified with songs (elegies) that praised the
willingness to die for one’s leader, or the gloriousness of death in battle. In Old English poetry
such as Beowulf, the elegiac tone comes from the sense of a warrior’s way of life passing away,
or the inability of one’s earthly fame or wealth to last, or the state of exile or fall from power.

The Madrigal poem:

There was a stronger connection generally between poetry and music in the 16th c:

“Weep You No More, Sad Fountains”:

A madrigal is a song for solo or for 3-5 voices in harmony, sometimes mixed gender, though
often men sang the women’s parts. It’s a secular or non-religious form, for the most part, though
many writers were also writing church music. The connection of music to poetry is very intense
– poets were often recruited to write the lyrics, or a poet’s existing work was adapted. There is an
especial link between the madrigal and the sonnet. In 1533 the first collection of madrigals was
published in Italy. The form was inspired by Petrarch, the writer whose sonnets were translated
into English and gave birth to the sonnet movement there. His sonnets were set to music. Later,
Shakespeare was to provide the lyrics for madrigals by Thomas Morley, one of the most famous
composers. They lived in the same parish neighborhood. Madrigal music lyrics were written
down and collected into books. Often the musical notation is lost: so we have the words, but no
musical notation.

The themes of the madrigal are the common sonnet themes: love (especially lost or unattainable
love), desire, and courtship—the so-called Courtly Love themes. Courtly Love refers to non-
sexual (unconsummated), idealized love for the “perfect lady,” who improves and refines the
“knight” spiritually, morally, emotionally, ethically, and in terms of his sensitivity to beauty.
Other themes/images: relation of seasons to emotions or periods in a human life. The brevity of
life. A festive or feisty tone, the use of humor, and carpe diem or “seize the day” themes are
common features. Madrigals in England were more light hearted than in Italy (the Brits seemed
to grow sick of the Petrarchean love of an inaccessible woman theme). Nonsense syllables,
playful fa la la. . ., are important elements.

There was a cross-fertilization between English traditions and the Italian madrigal. The English
already had a tradition of the song for several voices, the “air”. Themes and techniques from
Italy influenced the English madrigal, and the form remained popular in England long after it had
waned in Italy and France. It was suited to the English court tradition, both by theme and
because of the intimacy of its performance. If you have seen the film Sense and Sensibility, you
will perhaps remember that the heroine sings “Weep Ye No More Sad Fountains,” though the
film is set in the 19th century. Madrigals were crucial “parlor music” for amateur performers.

Madrigal uses what they call “word painting” techniques: for instance a word in the lyrics
(smile) is rendered in the composition (a fall of very fast delicate notes).

Listen to Sting’s rendition of the madrigal “Weep You No More, Sad Fountains.” Can you hear
any word painting going on?

The Ballad: “The Unquiet Grave”:

Ballad is another musical poetic form: often the words only survive and the melody is lost; it
was passed down through popular culture, sometimes not transcribed, though there were later
composers (Vaughan Williams was one in the early 20th century) who scoured the country sides
for ballads to transcribe – it was part of the cultural heritage). To me there is a more lyrical
feeling to the ballad, in the sense of a strict I focus, whereas the madrigal feels more like a WE.
Look at the principles of connection in “the Unquiet Grave” that signal it’s musical form – tags
or repeated lines or refrains: for instance, “a twelvemonth and a day “concludes the second
stanza and forms the opener of the third stanza.

Why? How does this help the singer or memorizer?

Look at the themes of the poem:

• constancy to the dead love.
• a mourning period extended too far, yet not completed.
• seize the day motif – while we are alive, let us live.
• Fascination with death.
• There is also a strong supernatural element here (“speaking beyond the grave”). The
supernatural element is strongly traditional for the ballad.