The Masque at Kenilworth
Appearance
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No. 1, Introduction: A Summer Night (Instrumental)
[edit]No. 2, Chorus, "Hark! The Sound that Hails a King"
[edit]CONTRALTO SOLO:
- Hark! the sound that hails a King
- Yonder cannon signaling
CHORUS.
- She is near!
CONTRALTO SOLO:
- Lo! the blaze more bright than day!
- Spreading down the throngéd way.
CHORUS:
- She is here!
CONTRALTO SOLO:
- Hail! the flower of England met,
- Mitre, Spear, and Coronet,
- To salute our sov'reign dear.
CHORUS:
- Here a bevy fair of pleasures
- Waits to greet her with their treasures
WOMEN:
- For the Lady of the Lake
- Does her haunted couch forsake
TENORS:
- Sylvans come in jolly train
BASSES:
- Old Arion from the main
CONTRALTOS:
- Thespis with her gilded car.
CHORUS:
- Dancers who the nimblest be
- Minstrels harping lustily
- Crowd around the brightest star
- Of the host that brightest are
- As she sweeps in maiden state
- Through her vassal's palace gate,
- While the trumpet's pompous breath
- And the bells that thundring peal
- Till the towers with gladness reel
- Welcome our Elizabeth.
- God save the Queen!
No. 3, Song, "I have slept beneath the water" (The Lady of the Lake)
[edit]THE LADY OF THE LAKE:
- I have slept beneath the water
- On my quiet bed of green,
- As the great Magician's daughter,
- Who hath dreamed, unheard, unseen.
- Since the times of brave King Arthur,
- When the Knight was used to roam
- In the search of wild adventure
- And the Lady wept at home.
- But I wake to life and summer,
- With my lilies on my brow
- For there's joy for each new comer,
- And the merry days are now.
- I have slept beneath the water,
- On my quiet bed of green,
- While, above me, storm and slaughter
- Have passed, though heard, unseen.
- But the secrets I have treasured
- Will my lake to none betray,
- For below they hide in twilight,
- Though above you have the day;
- Now I wake to life and glory,
- With my lilies on my brow,
- To forget that rude old story,
- For the golden days are now!
No. 4, Quartett and Chorus of Sylvans, "Let Fauns the cymbal ring"
[edit]MEN:
- Let fauns the cymbal ring,
- And blow the cornet sweet,
- While Sylvans tribute bring
- To Oriana's[1] feet!
- And from her secret cell,
- Where she alone doth dwell,
- Dame Echo's voice declare
- To the obedient air
- How proud she is.
- Let fauns the cymbal ring,
- And blow the cornet sweet,
- While Sylvans tribute bring
- To Oriana's feet!
QUARTET (SATB):
- Like Summer's bounteous noon,
- Most radiant to behold,
- As chaste as younder moon,
- But not one half so cold.
MEN:
- Hark! while in joyous crowd
- Stout Dryads shout aloud!
- Her part will Echo bear,
- And far away declare
- How brave she is! How fair!
No. 5, Slow Dance with Chorus
[edit]CHORUS:
- Fa la la, etc.
No. 6, Arion's Song, "I am a ruler on the sea"
[edit]ARION:[2]
1.
- I am a ruler on the sea,
- Over these sturdy mariners,
- Who feel not fear so much as glee,
- When ever wind old Ocean stirs.
- Who feel not fear so much as glee,
- When ever wind old Ocean stirs.
- Let e'er so blithe its dolphins play,
- Let e'er its waves so wildly roar,
- Go east, go west, go where we may,
- Our hearts are firmly moor'd on shore;
- And from the deep and from the strand,
- Where Tritons fling their trumpets down,
- This is our message to the land,
- "We guard from harm old England's crown!"
2.
- Who dares to brag and boast afar,
- Like thunder clouds that threaten rain?
- What need we care if jealous war
- Be brooding in the ports of Spain?
- What need we care if jealous war
- Be brooding in the ports of Spain?
- Our Queen may let such bodings pass,
- And answer with a haughty smile,
- No Don shall touch a blade of grass
- In any border of our isle!
- The very highway stones would rise,
- The shepherd's hills rain ruin down
- Were we not there, against surprise,
- To guard our glorious England's crown!
No 6a, Contralto Solo: "Place for the Queen our Show to see"
[edit]CONTRALTO SOLO:
- Place for the Queen our Show to see
- Now speak Immortal Poetry!
No 7, Duet (Tenor and Soprano) Scene from the Merchant of Venice: "How sweet the moonlight sleeps"
[edit]TENOR [Lorenzo]:[3]
- How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
- Here let us sit, and let the sound of music
- Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night
- Become the touches of sweet harmony.
- Look how the floor of Heaven
- Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:
- There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
- But in his motion like an angel sings,
- Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins;
- Such harmony is in immortal sounds;[4]
- In such a night as this,
- When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
- And they did make no noise, in such a night
- Troilus, methinks, mounted the Troyan wall,
- And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
- Where Cressid lay that night.
SOPRANO [Jessica]:
- On such a night
- Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew,
- And saw the lion's shadow ere himself,
- And ran dismay'd away.
BOTH:
- In such a night as this,
- When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
- In such a night,
- Stood Dido, with a willow in her hand,
- Upon the wild sea banks and waved her love
- To come again to Carthage.
- In such a night as this!
No 8, A Brisk Dance (Instrumental)
[edit]No 9, Solo and Chorus: "After banquet, play, and riot"
[edit]CONTRALTO SOLO:
- After banquet, play, and riot,
- Cometh timely hour of quiet!
- Bower, hall, and corridor
- Are with poppy leaves bespread!
- Morpheus stayeth at the door
- Of the guest so cherishéd.
CHORUS:
- Sleep, great Queen! And do not dream,
- Sleep in peace, our watch is set.
- Till tomorrow's morn shall beam
- On the masque not ended yet.
- Sleep great Queen, sleep in peace!
- Day shall bring thee new delight,
- Trumpets sound before good night
- Over our sov'reign's couch is said
- With a blessing on her bed.
- God save the Queen!
Footnotes
[edit][1] Oriana: Queen Elizabeth.
[2] Legendary Greek poet who was thrown off a ship and rescued by dolphins.
[3] This is a cut-and-paste job of various conversations between Lorenzo and Jessica in Act V, Scene I of the Merchant of Venice.
[4] Chorley was heavily criticised for this change: The original was "Such harmony is in immortal souls". There are several other mistakes in this section.