John Dryden (1631-1700)
Alexander's Feast
I
1 'T was at the royal feast, for Persia won
2 By Philip's warlike son:
3 Aloft in awful state
4 The godlike hero sate
5 On his imperial throne;
6 His valiant peers were plac'd around;
7Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound:
8 (So should desert in arms be crown'd.)
9The lovely Thais, by his side,
10Sate like a blooming Eastern bride
11In flow'r of youth and beauty's pride.
12 Happy, happy, happy pair!
13 None but the brave,
14 None but the brave,
15 None but the brave deserves the fair.
CHORUS
16 Happy, happy, happy pair!
17 None but the brave,
18 None but the brave,
19 None but the brave deserves the fair.
II
20 Timotheus, plac'd on high
21 Amid the tuneful choir,
22 With flying fingers touch'd the lyre:
23 The trembling notes ascend the sky,
24 And heav'nly joys inspire.
25The song began from Jove,
26Who left his blissful seats above,
27(Such is the pow'r of mighty love.)
28A dragon's fiery form belied the god:
29Sublime on radiant spires he rode,
30 When he to fair Olympia press'd;
31 And while he sought her snowy breast:
32Then, round her slender waist he curl'd,
33And stamp'd an image of himself, a sov'reign of the world.
34The list'ning crowd admire the lofty sound,
35"A present deity," they shout around:
36"A present deity," the vaulted roofs rebound.
37 With ravish'd ears
38 The monarch hears,
39 Assumes the god,
40 Affects to nod,
41 And seems to shake the spheres.
CHORUS
42 With ravish'd ears
43 The monarch hears,
44 Assumes the god,
45 Affects to nod,
46 And seems to shake the spheres.
III
47 The praise of Bacchus then the sweet musician sung,
48 Of Bacchus ever fair and ever young:
49 The jolly god in triumph comes;
50 Sound the trumpets; beat the drums;
51 Flush'd with a purple grace
52 He shews his honest face:
53Now give the hautboys breath; he comes, he comes.
54 Bacchus, ever fair and young
55 Drinking joys did first ordain;
56 Bacchus' blessings are a treasure,
57 Drinking is the soldier's pleasure;
58 Rich the treasure,
59 Sweet the pleasure,
60 Sweet is pleasure after pain.
CHORUS
61 Bacchus' blessings are a treasure,
62 Drinking is the soldier's pleasure;
63 Rich the treasure,
64 Sweet the pleasure,
65 Sweet is pleasure after pain.
IV
66 Sooth'd with the sound, the king grew vain;
67 Fought all his battles o'er again;
68And thrice he routed all his foes; and thrice he slew the slain.
69The master saw the madness rise,
70His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;
71And, while he heav'n and earth defied,
72Chang'd his hand, and check'd his pride.
73 He chose a mournful Muse,
74 Soft pity to infuse;
75He sung Darius great and good,
76 By too severe a fate,
77Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen,
78 Fallen from his high estate,
79 And welt'ring in his blood;
80Deserted, at his utmost need
81By those his former bounty fed;
82On the bare earth expos'd he lies,
83With not a friend to close his eyes.
84With downcast looks the joyless victor sate,
85 Revolving in his alter'd soul
86 The various turns of chance below;
87 And, now and then, a sigh he stole,
88 And tears began to flow.
CHORUS
89 Revolving in his alter'd soul
90 The various turns of chance below;
91 And, now and then, a sigh he stole,
92 And tears began to flow.
V
93 The mighty master smil'd to see
94That love was in the next degree;
95'T was but a kindred sound to move,
96For pity melts the mind to love.
97 Softly sweet, in Lydian measures,
98 Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures.
99 "War," he sung, "is toil and trouble;
100 Honour, but an empty bubble.
101 Never ending, still beginning,
102 Fighting still, and still destroying:
103 If the world be worth thy winning,
104 Think, O think it worth enjoying.
105 Lovely Thais sits beside thee,
106 Take the good the gods provide thee."
107The many rend the skies with loud applause;
108So Love was crown'd, but Music won the cause.
109 The prince, unable to conceal his pain,
110 Gaz'd on the fair
111 Who caus'd his care,
112 And sigh'd and look'd, sigh'd and look'd,
113Sigh'd and look'd, and sigh'd again:
114At length, with love and wine at once oppress'd,
115The vanquish'd victor sunk upon her breast.
CHORUS
116 The prince, unable to conceal his pain,
117 Gaz'd on the fair
118 Who caus'd his care,
119 And sigh'd and look'd, sigh'd and look'd,
120 Sigh'd and look'd, and sigh'd again:
121At length, with love and wine at once oppress'd,
122The vanquish'd victor sunk upon her breast.
VI
123 Now strike the golden lyre again:
124A louder yet, and yet a louder strain.
125Break his bands of sleep asunder,
126And rouse him, like a rattling peal of thunder.
127 Hark, hark, the horrid sound
128 Has rais'd up his head:
129 As wak'd from the dead,
130 And amaz'd, he stares around.
131"Revenge, revenge!" Timotheus cries,
132 "See the Furies arise!
133 See the snakes that they rear,
134 How they hiss in their hair,
135And the sparkles that flash from their eyes!
136 Behold a ghastly band,
137 Each a torch in his hand!
138Those are Grecian ghosts, that in battle were slain,
139 And unburied remain
140 Inglorious on the plain:
141 Give the vengeance due
142 To the valiant crew.
143Behold how they toss their torches on high,
144 How they point to the Persian abodes,
145And glitt'ring temples of their hostile gods!"
146The princes applaud, with a furious joy;
147And the king seiz'd a flambeau with zeal to destroy;
148 Thais led the way,
149 To light him to his prey,
150And, like another Helen, fir'd another Troy.
CHORUS
151 And the king seiz'd a flambeau with zeal to destroy;
152 Thais led the way,
153 To light him to his prey,
154And, like another Helen, fir'd another Troy.
VII
155 Thus long ago,
156 Ere heaving bellows learn'd to blow,
157 While organs yet were mute;
158 Timotheus, to his breathing flute,
159 And sounding lyre,
160Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire.
161 At last, divine Cecilia came,
162 Inventress of the vocal frame;
163The sweet enthusiast, from her sacred store,
164 Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds,
165 And added length to solemn sounds,
166With nature's mother wit, and arts unknown before.
167 Let old Timotheus yield the prize,
168 Or both divide the crown:
169 He rais'd a mortal to the skies;
170 She drew an angel down.
GRAND CHORUS
171 At last, divine Cecilia came,
172 Inventress of the vocal frame;
173The sweet enthusiast, from her sacred store,
174 Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds,
175 And added length to solemn sounds,
176With nature's mother wit, and arts unknown before.
177 Let old Timotheus yield the prize,
178 Or both divide the crown:
179 He rais'd a mortal to the skies;
180 She drew an angel down.
Notes
1] In 1683 a musical society was formed in London for performing annually on November 22nd, a composition in honour of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Dryden had already written a poem (A Song for St. Cecilia'sDay) for the 1687 festival. Alexander's Feast was written for the festival in 1697, and set to music by Jeremiah Clarke. The poet represents Alexander the Great, after his defeat of Darius in 331 B.C., celebrating the victory by a banquet, at which the famous flute-player, Timotheus, entertains the guests with music.
9] Thais: a famous Greek courtesan, mistress of Alexander.
25] The references in this stanza are to the story that Alexander, when he visited the shrine of Jupiter Ammon in Egypt, was informed that he was a son of the god.
29] spires: coils; cf. "spiral."
52] honest: handsome, as Latin honestus.
97] Lydian measures: the Greeks speak of three different modes in their music: Dorian, Lydian, and Phrygian; the Lydian was suited to tender themes.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: John Dryden, Alexander's Feast; or, The Power of musique (London: J. Tonson, 1697). PR 3415 A39 1697A Robarts Library
First publication date:
1697
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP 1. 506.
Recent editing: 4:2002/3/21
Composition date:
1697
Form: Ode (irregular)
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