Re the recent discussion as to what 'In
Darkness let me dwell' might be about:
As usual, David van Ooijen got it
right, but didn't point out that because the
setting of both verses of the poem was clearly written expressly for this
Penelope Rich/ Mountjoy 'Funeral Tears'
sequence, it must pre-date Dowland's setting as included in 'A Musicall
Banquet'.
Dowland composed his own setting of the first verse (of the 1606 poem) some
time before 1610,
presumably making the change from 'dying live' to 'living die' himself, to
help make slightly more sense in the new context of the single-versed song.
Coprario's (or Penelope's) poems can date no earlier than 1606, because
Mountjoy died earlier that same year,
and there is no evidence that these poems, addressed directly to Penelope
Rich, existed in any form prior to the publication.
Good though the Coprario duet setting is, Dowland must have decided that he
could do an even
better setting, and presumably thought that, once removed
from the context of the 'Funeral Teares' cycle,
the second verse was no longer necessary. The song has far more impact in
Dowland's setting, and it is hard to imagine
it continuing for a second verse after his extraordinary (and unique) final
measure.
The text of Coprario's second verse confirms my suggestion (in my notes to
the paraphrase
of this song text at http://www.johndowland.co.uk/index.htm)
that the 'dwelling' referred to in the song is a black marble tomb, albeit a
metaphorical
one.
I hope that the notes below might help shed a bit more light on 'In
darkness':
They are (lightly edited) extracts from Anthony Rooley's sleeve notes to The
Consort of Musicke's 1981
LP recording of Coprario's 'Funeral Teares for the death of the Right
Honorable the Earle of
Devonshire. 1606' (Decca DSLO 576)
"Sing lady, sing thy Dev'nshires funerals,
And charme the Ayre with thy delightful voyce,
Let lighter spirits grace their Madrigals,
Sorrow doth in the saddest notes rejoyce.
Fairest of ladies since these songs are thine,
Now make them as thou art thy selfe, devine.
The devoted servant of true
noblenesse, John Coprario."
Thus John Coprario personalises his dedication of the 'Funeral Teares of
1606, the first true song cycle in the English Language. The characters
involved in this elegiac cycle were two of the most renowned and colourful
members of the Court at that time: Charles Blount, eighth Baron Mountjoy and
Earl of Devonshire (1563-1606), and Penelope Devereux (1563-1607), later
Penelope Rich, finally Blount, sister of the Earl of Essex (...)
John Coprario's song cycle was composed for Penelope, to ease her grief and
to console her spirit. The purpose of the work is cathartic: Penelope's
distraught grief (all of the poems are written in the first person, and may
even be by her) is transmuted through emotional outburst, guided by the
disciplines of poetry and music, to a wholehearted acceptance of the
glorious life hereafter. It is ultimately a confirmation of faith.
There are many similarities in the unfolding of the cycle to the meditation
sequences of St. Ignatius Loyola, whose 'Spiritual Exercises' of 1548 had
spread throughout Christendom by the end of the century (...) It is a
personal variation on the meditation sequence, intended for Penelope's use,
and made public in print to help clear Blount's name (...)
The sense and organisation in 'Funeral Teares' is subtle and skilful.
Throughout there is a play on the word 'joy' (referring to Blount's title
'Mountjoy'), and throughout Penelope is speaking (...)
The heart of the cycle lies at stage four, a distraught cry from the heart,
the fullest outburst of grief:
" In darkness let me dwell (etc) "
Here, in lavish detail, continued in a second stanza, is the living tomb in
which the widow desires to languish. It is Penelope's monument erected to
her grief. These famous words were also set in part by John Dowland. "
Anthony Rooley 1981
Best wishes to all,
David Hill
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