From The Duchess of Malfi (“O let us howl, some heavy note”)

From The Duchess of Malfi (“O let us howl, some heavy note”)

Original Text
The Tragedy of The Duchess of Malfi (London: Printed by Nicholas Okes for John Waterson, 1623) sig. I4r-I4v / STC 25176
1O let us howl, some heavy note,
2     Some deadly-dogged howl,
3Sounding as from the threat’ning throat
4     Of beasts and fatal fowl.
5As ravens, screech-owls, bulls, and bears,
6     We’ll bill and bawl our parts,
7Till irksome noise have cloyed your ears
8     And corrosived your hearts.
9At last when as our choir wants breath,
10     Our bodies being bless'd,
11We’ll sing like Swans, to welcome death,
12     And die in love and rest.

Notes

1] This grotesque song is sung by a madman in Act four of the play, accompanied by “a dismal kind of music.” Back to Line
6] bill: bellow Back to Line
11] Swans: it was a Renaissance commonplace that swans sang only once, just before death Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1623
RPO poem Editors
Christopher Matusiak
RPO Edition
2011