The title of the Poem is "Her Triumph"
It was published in, though composed much earlier,
"A Celebration of Charis, in Ten Lyrick Peeces" by Ben Jonson, 1640
I believe the song should consist of the one verse, though there is
evidence otherwise.
This is one of the few cases where we can see a clear mistake in some
of the original sources, due to the careful anapestic meter of the poem.
The opening line must have 3x3 syllables. One may amend white to
bright to preserve the internal alliterative, and set a contrast to
white later in the poem as well as avoiding the obvious repetition.
Other corrections, such as changing "soil" to "earth" are less clear,
although the line
Before the soil hath smutch'd it
Obviously follows the same internal alliterative scheme;
"earth hath" as a reverse alliterative alternative is however
possible, though different from the final printed copy.
The song has been recorded and performed many times (including Sting)
with a syllable missing from the first line, which would have been
immediately obvious at the time, and
pass unremarked nowadays--a good example of reception.
As for Spink's suggestion that it is a theatre song:
The Song makes an appearance in "the Devil is an Ass" 1616 in the
seduction scene by Wittipol.
The last two lines are a transformation of the style of the classical
heroic couplet, and close out the scene (Act II Scene vi).
This explains why the character of the song changes at the end.
The earlier theatrical form suggests the inclusion of a preexisting
song, in which one performance possibilty is the recitaion of the
first verse and the sung performance of
the "plug-in" song. Other interpretations are possible.
The play has only the two verses.
Metrically, it appears that the third verse was written first, then
the other two added later.
Authorship:
Slightly closer to Ferrabosco, as the opening is reminiscent of "Come my Celia"
And the concluding section more like "So, so leave off" than similar
pieces by Johnson.
Still, could be Johnson......
dt
At 07:07 PM 7/28/2007, you wrote:
The lyrics beginning "Have you seen but a white lily grow" [etc.] are
the third stanza of Ben Jonson's poem "See the chariot at hand here
of love...".
This stanza ("Have you seen but a white lily grow") does appear alone
in most music sources. Other sources of the same music and of the
poem have the song beginning "See the chariot at hand..." [etc.] with
more stanzas (total of three if I remember correctly - this should be checked).
One source does have tablature (by whom is unknown), and just the one
stanza beginning "Have you seen but a white lily grow...":
British Library Add. MS 15177, fol. 17v.
It also has a few nice additional embellishments (that would be best
saved for this stanza).
There is a facsimile in:
English Song, 1600-1675: Facsimiles of Twenty-six Manuscripts and an
Edition of the Texts. 12 vols. Edited with Introductions by Elise
Bickford Jorgens. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1986-89.
Vol. I. Vol. 1: British Library Manuscripts, Part I: Add. Ms. 15117;
Egerton Ms. 2971; Add. Ms. 24665 (Giles Earle's Songbook); Add. Ms.
29481, ff. 2-26v. (1986).
If this is used, it will make a longer song if the other stanzas are
added from another source.
Other music sources include:
Och Mus. MS 87, fol. 4v
NYPL Drexel MS 4175 no. 49
NYPL Drexel MS 4257, no. 2
Lbl Add. MS 29481, fol. 21
NYPL Drexel MS 4175 no. 34 song lost
The song is unattributed in all sources.
Ian Spink made a very reasonable (now generally accepted) suggestion
that the song could be by Robert Johnson. It also has been attributed
to Alfonso Ferrabosco (the younger). Both attributions are due to the
two composers' associations with Ben Jonson in the masque and
theatre. It also does have the "flavour" of both Johnson and
Ferrabosco. Spink suggests that if the song is a theatre song, then
Johnson is more likely.
Gordon J Callon
Adjunct Professor
School of Music
Acadia University
Wolfville
Nova Scotia
Canada
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