I will try to provide an in depth analysis of these to the best of my ability. I will supplement the discussions with audio files wherever necessary.
During the years 1880-1882, Rabindranath wrote two dance dramas - Balmiki Protibha and Kaalmrigaya in that sequence. In these two works the influence of western popular and folk music is very much evident. Let us take up Kaalmrigaya (The Fatal Hunt) first. In Kaalmrigaya six songs have a very obvious western influence and these are
1. Phoole phoole dhole dhole (Drowsing on every flower)
2. Sokoli Phuralo (everything is over)
3. Mana na manili (Ye did not obey forbiddance)
4. O dekhbi re bhai (O brother you will see)
5. Enechi mora enechi mora (Brought we have, we have brought)
6. Tui ay re kaache aay (O bhai dekhe ja), (Come ye nearer come) (O brother come and see)
Let us take up "O Dekhbi Re Bhai" first. This song's tune is an adaptation from "The Vicar of Bray".
The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 and from 1633 to 1715 made it almost impossible for any individual to comply with the successive religious requirements of the state.
A satirical 18th century song, "The Vicar of Bray", recounts the career of a vicar of Bray, Berkshire, towards the end of this period and his contortions of principle in order to retain his ecclesiastic office despite the changes through the course of several monarchs from Charles II to George I.
In the song, "The Vicar of Bray", the eponymous vicar was the clergyman of the parish of Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire. The most familiar version of the lyrics recount his adaptability (some would say amorality) over half a century, from the reigns of Charles II to George I. Over this period, he embraced whichever form of liturgy, Protestant or Catholic , was favoured by the monarch of the day in order to retain his position as vicar of Bray.
The earliest version of the song's lyrics may have been written by "an officer in Colonel Fuller's regiment," according to one source. They exist in various forms. However, the story of the vicar's cheerful reversals of principle remains the same in all circumstances.
The Vicar of Bray - Lyrics
In good King Charles's golden days,
When loyalty had no harm in't,
A zealous High Churchman I was,
And so I gained preferment.
To teach my flock I never missed:
Kings were by God appointed;
And they are damned who dare resist
Or touch the Lord's anointed.
And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.
When Royal James obtained the Throne,
And Popery grew in fashion,
The Penal Law I hooted down,
And read the Declaration;
The Church of Rome I found would fit
Full well my constitution;
And I had been a Jesuit
But for the Revolution.
And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.
When William, our deliverer, came
To heal the nation's grievance,
Then I turned cat-in-pan again,
And swore to him allegiance
Old principles I did revoke,
Set conscience at a distance,
Passive obedience was a joke,
A jest was non-resistance.
And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.
When glorious Anne became our Queen,
The Church of England's glory,
Another face of things was seen,
And I became a Tory.
Occasional Conformist Face!
I damned such moderation;
And thought the Church in danger was
By such prevarication.
And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.
When George in pudding-time came o'er
And moderate men looked big, sir,
My principles I changed once more,
And so became a Whig, sir;
And thus preferment I procured
From our Faith's great Defender;
And almost every day abjured
The Pope and the Pretender.
And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.
The illustrious House of Hanover,
And Protestant Succession,
By these I lustily will swear
While they can keep possession
For in my faith and loyalty
I never once will falter,
But George my King shall ever be,
Except the times do alter.
And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.
I am going to assume that some readers are not well versed in this period of English history, and will thus provide a little historic background in hopes of enhancing the fun of reading this wonderful poem.
The Charles to which the opening passage refers is Charles II, who assumed the English throne at the age of 30 in 1660, after having spent his youth in exile during the rule of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, who had had his father Charles I beheaded in 1649. Charles II was an avid supporter of the Church of England until a few days before his death, when he confessed to a priest and took his first and only Catholic communion.
Upon Charles' death in 1685, his brother James II assumed the throne. James was 53 at the time. He was a Catholic, having converted in 1668, to the great distress of his brother the King. His first wife, a protestant, bore him two daughters, Mary and Anne. Upon her death, he married an ardent Catholic, Mary of Modena. James' Catholicism was a constant source of trouble in Protestant England, but Mary of Modena appeared to be incapable of giving birth to a live child, so the English assumed that the throne would pass to James' Protestant daughter, Mary.
Just before James' death, however, Mary of Modena ostensibly gave birth to a young male, James Francis Edward Stuart, who later became known as the "Old Pretender." I say ostensibly because rumors abounded that some other woman's baby had been smuggled into the birthing chamber in order that a Catholic would inherit the throne. This is known as the "warming pan" legend. This birth threw the English Court and the nation into turmoil. Amid the fray, the Bishop of London and six prominent nobles secretly invited William of Orange ("William, our deliverer" in the poem) and his wife, James' Protestant daughter Mary, to come to England and take the throne by force, which they did, after James basically abandoned the fight and was allowed to go into exile in France.
William was a Presbyterian. He was adamantly anti-Catholic, which pleased the Anglicans, but he was not one of them, which weakened their enthusiasm a bit. Mary died childless of smallpox in 1694. William governed for eight more years, but was unpopular throughout this time.
When he died in 1702, Mary's sister Anne took the throne. She was an ardent Anglican. Indeed, she is known today as one of the most English of all the English monarchs. She died childless in 1714, and the English sent to Germany for the 54-year-old Elector of Hanover, who reluctantly moved to England and became King George I. His claim to the throne was that he was the great grandson of James I, who had assumed the English throne one hundred and eleven years earlier, in 1603 upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
George was unpopular. He spoke no English and cared little for the English people. As King, his natural affinity was with the Tories, but he distrusted the Tory leadership, knowing that many of them had secretly supported the Jacobite uprising in 1715, one year after he became King. The object of this uprising was to place James Stuart on the throne. It was led by the Old Pretender's son Charles Edward Stuart, the "Young Pretender." So George became tight with the Whigs, who were led by the deeply corrupt, but politically astute Prime Minister Robert Walpole. With that introduction, please enjoy this great old classic.
This is the same song sung by an Indian artist, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta followed by a depiction of how that tune was used by Tagore in his composition "O Dekhbi Re Bhai" from Kaalmrigaya. The first song is from Swagatalakshmi's album "Swadesh Bidesh" and the second one is from an album called "Antorjatik Rabindranath".
Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta (Swadesh Bidesh) - The Vicar of Bray
|
Antorjatik Rabindranath - The Vicar of Bray and O Dekhbi Re Bhai
|
My next post will be on another song from "Kaalmrigaya" - Tui Aay Re Kaache Aay.
No comments:
Post a Comment