A Song for St.Cecilia’s Day- John Dryden

 A Song for St.Cecilia’s Day - John Dryden

John Dryden wrote ‘A Song for St.Cecilia’s Day’ for performance with orchestra, to celebrate the festival of St. Cecilia’s Day (Nov. 22) in 1687. St. Cecila was a pious Christian lady who sacrificed her life in Rome in the year 230 AD. She is the patron saint of music. Her music had divine qualities. The central idea of the poem is that the whole universe is a stage. It was created by the power of music and will be dissolved by the music of the last trumpet. The music thus connects the two ends of creation and destruction.

Dryden begins the poem with the observation that the universe was originally in a chaotic state and order was gradually evolved thanks to the impact of divine music. The four elements hot, cold, music and dry which had been lying pell-mell, were arranged in proper order. This evolutionary process culminated in the birth of man. All the excellences in nature are contained in man just as all the musical notes in the scale are contained in the diapason.

There is a reference to Biblical Jubal. According to the Bible, Jubal was the first musician who represented the elemental force of primitive music. When Jubal struck the chords, the listeners were enchanted. They thought that a god dwelt in the hollow of the shell and produced the ravishing music. They were sure a  human being could not produce such strains.

Of the many musical instruments mentioned in the poem, the drum with its double beat is one. Its loud clangor puts soldiers on their mettle and makes them think not in terms of running away from the battlefield. The flute, the lute and the violin express the feelings of lovers. But the organ expresses divine love. Dryden says that the organ music ascends to heaven and inspires the angels there to sing all the more 

The last section, Dryden is made a comparison  between St.Cecilia and Orpheus. Orpheus was the great classical singer who could control both man and nature through his music. ‘The savage race’ and ‘trees’ represent undisciplined nature. Yet they were tamed by the music of Orpheus. But Cecilia does more than Orpheus. The music that emanated from Cecilia’s organ was so marvellous that an angel mistook the earth for heaven. Thus Dryden establishes the superiority of musical power of St.Cecilia over the pagan musical power of Orpheus.

Dryden concludes the poem with a grand chorus. The power of music made the spheres resound: similarly the end of the universe will be announced by the powerful beat of the trumpet.

The poem ends with a prophecy that as the universe was created from the power generated out of the musical harmony, so the universe will cease to exist with the end of that harmony.