Chaucer and Dryden Dedicated Odes to Saint Term Paper

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Chaucer and Dryden dedicated odes to Saint Cecilia, who was revered as the patron saint of music. As a poetic muse, Cecilia is credited with inventing the organ and using that instrument to praise God. Legend has it that through a devotional song Cecilia played on the organ, God spared Cecilia her virginity after she was married. A feast-day of Saint Cecilia was held on November 22 and John Dryden's "Ode to St. Cecilia's Day" celebrates that day and the majesty of music. Music is a heavenly treat that leads to celestial harmony; the mystery of music is clarified through Dryden's use of metaphor and personification. In different stanzas, Dryden lends various instruments individual qualities according to their particular sounds. These instruments become metaphors for human passions and for the wonders of nature. The trumpet, a common military instrument, "excites us to arms," (line 26). A morose-sounding flute Dryden describes as singing a dirge. The "frantic indignation" of jealousy is played by the "sharp" violin in Stanza 5. Finally, Saint Cecilia's chosen instrument, the organ, deserves the highest of praise. Its sacred notes "wing their Heav'nly ways/to mend the choirs above," (lines 46-7). Lending life to the myth and meaning of Saint Cecilia's Day, John Dryden imparts his respect and love for music.

From the first line of the poem, music is seen as something cosmic: "From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony/This universal frame began," (lines 1-2). Already, Dryden employs metaphor to uplift the senses to hear unearthly, intangible sounds.

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Music's beatific voice forms the structure, the "frame" of the universe. With heavenly harmonies, the four elements (here portrayed as cold, hot, moist, and dry) "in order to their stations leap, / and music's pow'r obey," (lines 8-9). The building blocks of life, the atoms, obey the command of music. Just as Cecilia employed music as prayer, Dryden shows that music is the language of universal law. His active, powerful verbs personify music's role as celestial governor: music runs; music raises spirits; music is alive. The final line of the "Ode to St. Cecilia's Day" is the most mystical: "music shall untune the sky," (line 63). Music has such immense power that, like a god itself, it can command Nature and the Heavens. Music dictates the beginning and end of human life, for through it the "dead shall live, the living die," (line 62). Dryden plays with metaphysical metaphors to illustrate the divine power of music and the sway it holds over human beings.

Throughout the "Ode to St. Cecilia's Day," John Dryden personifies music in general and instruments in particular. From the second to the sixth stanza, Dryden outlines the specific qualities of certain instruments. Stanza 2 is devoted to Jubal's corded shell. Alluding to the biblical character of Jubal, Dryden further exemplifies the divine nature of music. The corded shell "spoke so sweetly and so well," (line 23). The music that emanates from Jubal's shell has the power to….....

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