"Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music" (1697) is an ode by

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...

. It was written to celebrate

Saint Cecilia's Day Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the patroness of music and musicians, ...

. Jeremiah Clarke set the original ode to music, but the score is now lost.

Background

In 1683 the

Musical Society of London A Musical Society of London was formed in 1683, and commissioned works from Henry Purcell. However, the term usually refers to an organisation which existed in the middle of the 19th century. It was founded in April 1858 by Charles Kensington Sala ...

was formed for the purpose of commissioning and performing annually an ode in honour of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Dryden had previously written another ode, "

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day" (1687) is the first of two odes written by the English Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate John Dryden for the annual festival of Saint Cecilia's Day observed in London every 22 November from 1683 to ...

", for the 1687 festival. "Alexander's Feast" was written for the 1697 festival.Endicott 2022

Analysis

The main body of the poem describes the feast given by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

at the Persian capital

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

, after his defeat of

Darius Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ma ...

in 331 BC. Alexander's bard Timotheus sings praises of him. Alexander's emotions are manipulated by the singer's poetry and music. Timotheus glorifies him as a god, puffing up Alexander's pride. He then sings of the pleasures of wine, encouraging Alexander to drink. Seeing Alexander becoming too boisterous, he sings of the sad death of Darius; the king becomes quiet. He then lauds the beauty of Thaïs, Alexander's lover, making the king's heart melt. Finally, he encourages feelings of anger and vengeance, causing Thaïs and Alexander to burn down the Persian palace in revenge for Persia's previous outrages against Greece. The poem then moves ahead in time to describe

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the patroness of music and musicians, i ...

, "inventress of the vocal frame", who is traditionally supposed to have created the first organ and to have instituted Christian sacred music. The poem concludes that while Timotheus "Raised a mortal to the skies, / She drew an angel down".

Music

George Frideric Handel composed a

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

work, also called ''

Alexander's Feast Alexander's Feast may refer to: * Alexander's Feast (Dryden) * Alexander's Feast (Handel) ''Alexander's Feast'' ( HWV 75) is an ode with music by George Frideric Handel set to a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton. Hamilton adapted his libretto from Jo ...

'', set to a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, which was closely based on Dryden's ode.

References

Bibliography

* Endicott, N. J. (2022)
"Alexander's Feast"
''RPO: Representative Poetry Online''. University of Toronto Libraries. Accessed 10 March 2022. * Mambrol, Nasrullah (6 July 2020)
"Analysis of John Dryden’s Alexander’s Feast"
''Literariness: Literary Theory and Criticism''. Accessed 10 March 2022.

External links

* Alexander's Feast (ed. Francis T. Palgrave 1875) * Alexander's Feast (ed. Edward Arnold, 1904) * ''Alexander's Feast: or, The Power of Music: a Song in Honour of St. Cecilia, 1697'' (1904) {{John Dryden 1690s poems Poetry by John Dryden Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great Cultural depictions of Thaïs Historical poems