Greetings Peter,
There is a nice, brief article on poetry interpretation?for singers I once read
that contains an extensive discussion of the Lyke-Wake Dirge,
especially?concerned with?the intricacies of the archaic middle English it is
written in.
?
Arthur Graham, A Short and Pragmatic Approach to Poetry for Singers. Journal
of Singing 52/4 (March 1998): 15-24.
As I recall, the moment?at which the dirge states the whinnies shall prick
thee to the bare bane is followed immediately by a staccato passage in
the?accompanying strings, a mimesis of the thorny situation mentioned in the
poem.
Cheers,
Michael Baker?
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: horn@music.memphis.edu
Sent: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:20 pm
Subject: [Hornlist] The whinnes sall prick thee to the bare bane.
Recently, the process of trying to dub a recording of the Britten Serenade
caused me to listen to several of the movements repeatedly and I was struck
that I have never fully registered what the words in the tenor's lyrics
were nor had I completely understood the meaning of some of the more
antique ones. Much can be figured out fairly easily by studying the
context, but I was perplexed as to what Whinny-Muir and its whinnes were. A
little research on the Lyke-Wake Dirge has led me to conclude that whinnes
are a form of gorse or sticker bush as it is better known in the U.S. and
I suppose that Whinny-Muir is the moor where the death-bound traveler would
encounter them. The dirge recommends wearing ones hosen and shoon, if one
has them, otherwise one's bare feet will be pricked to the bare bane. This
is part of what one suffers on the way to the Brig (Bridge) o' Dread that
has to be crossed on the way to Purgatory. The term lyke itself mean a dead
body and seems to have disappeared from usage other than in lych gate
that is the church entrance that was used for said bodies awaiting burial.
One small further curiosity is that fire and sleet became fire and
fleet somewhere along the way.
I'm sure that Lawrence Yates could have done a lot better, but I thought
I'd share what I dug up (largely, I am obliged to admit, from wackapedia -
caveat lector), in case anyone else out there ever wondered likewise.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Peter Hirsch
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