I saw my Lady weepe

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"I saw my lady weepe" is a lute song from Second Booke of Songes or Ayres , by Renaissance lutenist and composer John Dowland.[1] While not so popular as some of his more famous songs, "I saw my lady weepe" is interesting in its own way. It is the first song in the Second Booke and it is dedicated to Anthony Holborne.[2] It is an example of Dowland’s chromatic usage and some consider it to be attached to the song that follows it in the Second Booke.[3]

When composing "I saw my lady weepe", Dowland was heavily influenced by what has been referred to as the "Elizabethan melancholy," or "Cult of Darkness" [4] as he was in the composition of all the songs in the Second Booke as well as most of those in his First Booke and Third Booke.

At a time when poets and composers were becoming increasingly interested in the problems of affective writing, grief, melancholy and despair were welcomed because they provided an opportunity for the exploitation of new techniques. If Elizabethan composers tended to choose lyrics which express simple, stylized emotions this is because they were interested in the transmission, not of ideas, but of feelings…this was only possible within the framework of a familiar poetic convention in which emotions were not complex, but followed well-worn paths. Dowland’s songs are no exception to this rule.[3]

– Robin Headlam Wells, 'Early Music, Vol. 13, No. 4. November 1985 pp. 514-528

Just as Wells has stated that Dowland’s songs follow this convention about transmitting feelings, Wells discusses "I saw my lady weepe" with these ideas in mind. According to Wells, the subject of the song is the power of the lady’s beauty—or in other words the overriding power of female beauty whether spiritual or physical. This idea of power coming from a woman’s beauty is one that in quite common in the poetry of the Elizabethan era.[5]

Interestingly the poetry of "I saw my lady weepe", does break with some of the conventions of the day in its treatment of the lady’s beauty or charms. Rather than grouping them together, Dowland presents us with a bit of a paradox in which the lady herself becomes more beautiful than the emotion of her sorrow. One must remember that at this time it was the emotion itself that was generally considered to be the beauty or that which is regarded as the charm rather than the human subject itself. In becoming more beautiful than her suffering through the paradox created by doing away with the normal conventions of the time the lady of whom the poet speaks becomes a very interesting character. The idea of doing away with literary and rhetorical conventions becoming the convention of the poem is quite fascinating as it may also parallel the choices made by the composer in the way he resolves, or perhaps does not resolve the composition. "'I saw my lady weep' is a variation on this topos. And, like most examples of its type, it ends with an ironic admission of the power of love to conquer reason." The composer can then take liberties regarding the theoretical nature of the music to which he sets the text. The joining of the text with the music enhances the sense of the melancholy that pervades the verse of the time and through this merger the music of the epoch takes on this same sense.[5] [6]

As stated above, it has been asserted that "I saw my lady weepe" is not complete in and of itself. Rather it is dependent upon the song that directly succeeds it, Flow my tears to be complete. An interesting thing about "I saw my lady weepe" in comparison to the other lute-songs in the Second Booke is that it ends on the fifth (when looking at the chordal structure with the final note of the sung line being the second). This is interesting because it is the only work that ends this way when theoretically it would seem that it should resolve back to the tonic.[2][7] This ending on the fifth is what leads Leech-Wilkinson to assert the necessity of "I saw my lady weepe" being concluded by Flow my tears, because Flow my tears provides the necessary resolution by beginning on the tonic note of "I saw my lady weepe". Looking at "I saw my lady weepe" on its own the relationship created by ending on the fifth "…might seem easily explicable in traditional modal terms, the harmonic language of the song cannot sensibly be read as mode 4 (a-a’, but with the final on e)." It is the movement within the song, leading away from a sense of the tonic along with the aforementioned final of the sung line on the second that brings questions about how to analyze the work because ending on the second within mode 4 seems unallowable and because of this the song is unresolved whether viewed as modal or tonal.[2] When viewed in relation to Wells’ idea of the melancholy one may begin to wonder whether these two songs are not a pair as Leech-Wilkinson suggests but rather that the sense of a need for resolution left behind at the end of "I saw my lady weepe" could be intentional on the part of the composer in order to leave the listener with a deeper sense of the emotions of the work.

Perhaps Leech-Wilkinson is also correct and they are a pair. Is it possible that by saving the resolution for the following song the composer gives time for the emotion to take deeper root before moving on and at the same time realizing that some form of melodic resolution is necessary in light of the text of the following work. Continuing with the idea that they are a pair one can again look to the analytical work done by Leech-Wilkinson. According to him there is more that ties the two works together than this need for resolution that is only to be provided by making them a pair. One of the other devices used by Dowland suggesting that the compositions are a pair is his use of syncopation at the end of the last phrase of "I saw my lady weepe". The syncopation he sets up disrupts the sense of rhythm within the song and the addition of what could be considered extra notes leading to a necessary textual repeat leaves the rhythm also wanting a metrical resolution and this resolution is given by the opening material of the following song.[2]

More evidence in support of the idea that the two songs form a pair may be found in the melodic structures of the songs.

… ...the melodic ascent which closes ‘I saw my lady weep,’ e’ f’ g’ a’, pausing on the neighbour-note g’ sharp as a pivot between the two songs, is answered at the start of ‘Flow my tears’ by the complementary descent a’ g’ f’ e’, which is itself both anticipated in augmentation in the bass at the end of ‘I saw my lady weep’… and echoed immediately at the beginning of ‘Glow my teares’ in the lowest line of the lute.[2]

– Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, 'Early Music, Vol. 19, No. 2. May 1991 pp. 227, 229-33

This melodic joining of the songs lends itself to the idea that "I saw my lady weepe" may have been composed as a sort of introduction to Flow my tears. This idea being built upon the knowledge that Flow my tears is a setting of an earlier Dowland pavan for lute, while according to Leech-Wilkinson "I saw my lady weepe" most likely originated as a song. This itself leaves one to ponder who this lady was, if she were anyone in particular. Leech-Wilkinson then asserts that it is possible that "I saw my lady weepe" is in some way a continuation of the dedication of the Second Booke to the Countess of Bedford.[7] This idea may have merit but it does seem unlikely given the preceding information that "I saw my lady weepe" is dedicated to Anthony Holborne.[2]

These are but a few of the ideas surrounding "I saw my lady weepe". It seems as though more work could be done in order to better understand the song musically and textually, yet at the same time one wonders if such a thing is necessary. The music and text both seem normal for the epoch in which they were created and the innovations of Dowland, which were then imitated by others, fit them perfectly. While further anthropological, musicological and sociological research may bring more light into the darkness of the melancholy muse, this is not certain and more analysis of the text to the music can only lead to further speculation as to Dowland’s intent until further documentation should be found.

[edit] Text

I saw my lady weep,
And Sorrow proud to be advanced so,
In those fair eyes where all perfections keep,
Her face was full of woe;
But such a woe (believe me) as wins more hearts,
Than Mirth can do with her enticing parts.

Sorrow was there made fair,
And Passion wise, tears a delightful thing,
Silence beyond all speech a wisdom rare,
She made her sighs to sing,
And all things with so sweet a sadness move,
As made my heart at once both grieve and love.

O fairer than aught else,
The world can show, leave off in time to grieve,
Enough, enough, your joyful looks excels,
Tears kills the heart.
O strive not to be excellent in woe,
Which only breeds your beauty's overthrow.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Holman and O'Dette
  2. ^ a b c d e f Leech Wilkinson 227
  3. ^ a b Wells 523
  4. ^ Wells 514, Leech-Wilkinson 230
  5. ^ a b Wells 524
  6. ^ Wells 526
  7. ^ a b Leech Wilkinson 229
  • Holman, Peter with Paul O'Dette. "John Dowland", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed November 8, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
  • Leech-Wilkinson, Daniel. "My Lady's Tears: A Pair of Songs by John Dowland" Early Music, Vol. 19, No. 2. May 1991 pp 227, 229-33.
  • Wells, Robin Headlam. "John Dowland and Elizabethan Melancholy," Early Music, Vol.13, No. 4. November 1985 pp514-28.