All that stuff is well and good. Actually, it's magnificent, important, and the best course of study if you are planning to expound this song to a college audience.
For me personally, all I ever needed was the bare song itself. Between difficult times in my life- including a touch of depression here & there, (and some apartments I've lived in!)- well, that song in particular hits like a kick to the solar plexus. A special "treat" over the years has been the occasional private performance of it with the soprano I live with- my wife of 30 odd & special years. A mutual harrowing & purging. The best of the Elizabethans only gets better with time, age, and life; it's right there- at the very core. Dan >On a basic level, you have a few settings for the starter image from >which to expand outwards. My reading ( and I invite you to create >your own) of the starter image is that it is a description of a dual >world, one in which the person is buried alive in a marble tomb with >no light, which at the same time is mirrored in the "above" world by >being trapped inside one's body as a sort of creative/spiritual tomb. >In this sense, it is directly derived from Elizabethan theories of >existence of "as above, so below", in which everything in heaven is >mirrored on earth. The twist is, "as above so below" is moved to a >focal plane of earth and hell. It is like taking the elevator one >floor down in a Bosch triptych. >In this reference frame, you can then read different qualities to >the lines of the poem. In a different frame you would see different >meanings, and so it goes, and so it should go. Rather than assigning >a specific correspondence, you can see that the weeping of the marble >walls resonates simultaneously on the level of the real properties of >stone, contemporaneous ideas of underground tombs, the musical >lamentations of both sacred and secular music, and Dowland's >signature piece, Lachrimae. Some of these belong to both worlds--the >internal, creative hell as well as the "vanitas" quality of Dowland >falling out of favor at home even as Lachrimae become more popular >abroad. The "roof despair" can refer to the inversion of the >Elizabethan world view of :as above so below: by removing salvation >from the resonance of the two worlds, but can also refer to any >number of things such as lack of inspiration "light". It can also, >again on the "real" or immediate level, have the basic feeling of >being trapped inside a real stone tomb and being unable to move the lid. > >And these that I mention, are only a few of a hundred ways to read >the poem. There are dozens of cross references to Dowland's own songs >possible, as well as the poems and songs of his contemporaries, such >as the Danyel brothers, (Grief, keep within), Fulke Greville, Greaves >and even Campion, as well as classical writers. As far as "ground" >goes, I don't read that as a pun on the musical ground, although I do >read "sleep" as a substitute for death or even poisoning as it is so >used by other poets (e.g., Care-charming sleep). Many of these words >have musical meanings, like "accent" or "relish", but such a musical >pun in this context doen not seem to have quite the right tone to my >ear. It is not, in short, Danyel's "Like as the lute delights". >Dipping into the historical side, there are countless examples from >English history and Classical Mythology which would have been well >known to the Elizabethans. References such as Antigone, St Castullus >and the Vestal Virgins are common in the literature. Specifically >looking for those who suffered the same fate twice also brings up >lesser known references, which though now obscure would have been >familiar at the time, such as the intriguing legend of Saint Otteran, >which is particularly interesting in regards to this poem and the >religious controversies of the time. > >Enjoy rereading the poem and replaying the song. I always have; I always will. > >dt > > >At 08:58 PM 12/2/2009, you wrote: >>A music student at my local college wants me to play lute > >for her senior capstone recital, and one of her choices of >>song is Dowland's "In Darkness Let Me Dwell". I have >>pondered these words for some years now, and it seems >>obvious to me that "The ground, the ground shall sorrow >>be..." has multiple connotations - physically ground as in >>the foundation of a building, and musically ground as in >>variations on a ground. "The roof despair..." and "...walls >>of marble black..." are obvious comparisons to a room or >>building, but could they have musical connotations as >>well?? Could the roof be the highest note in the range of >>the song? Following this line of thought, what would >>"The walls of marble, black" mean? Am I just pulling this >>out of my hat, or did the Elizabethans talk about their >>music in terms like these, other than ground? >> BTW, I love Ellen Hargis' recording of this with Jacob >>Heringman, lute and Mary Springfels, Viol on "A Candle >>In The Dark". What are some of your favorite recordings >>of "Darkness"? >> Thanks, >> Tom >>Tom Draughon > >Heartistry Music -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
