Come, Heavy Sleep”: Elizabethan Melancholy in the Works of John Dowland and William Byrd Joseph Staub

“Come, Heavy Sleep”: Elizabethan Melancholy in the Works of John Dowland and William Byrd

Joseph Staub

“Come, heavy Sleep, the image of true Death/And close up these my weary weeping

eyes” (Dowland 23). This lyric opens the twentieth piece in John Dowland’s First Book of

Songs, “Come, Heavy Sleep,” highlights the overall gloom that characterized the lives of

underground Catholics in Elizabethan England. The compositions of William Byrd echo this

sentiment, as most of them express some form of sadness or penitence. Byrd, among other

original compositions in his “Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Piety,” sets ten psalms

to music that are very indicative of this melancholic theme. Unlike Dowland, though, Byrd has a

sense of hope that perhaps through faith, the pain and sadness of Catholics will be relieved.

Dowland does not appear to share this hopeful sentiment, instead choosing to wallow in his

sorrow. These two early modern composers appropriately illustrate the deep-rooted melancholy

of Catholics living in Elizabethan England but differed on their outlooks; Byrd expressed hope

for the future while Dowland did not.

There are many theories as to the cause of the rampant feeling of melancholy in early

modern England. Humourism, a theory of medicine derived from Ancient Greek and Roman

practices, asserted that melancholy was one of four main human temperaments caused by an

excess of a certain bodily fluid, in the case ofmelancholy,an excess of black bile produced in

the liver. The melancholic temperamentwas characterized by introversion, self-reliance,

thoughtfulness, and sensitivity. Because of these characteristics, it was often thought that most

artists and musicians were in possession of a melancholic temperament (White). It was not until

Humourism went out of style in the mid to late-nineteenth century that historians began to

discuss why musicians and artists in particular experienced melancholy under Elizabeth.

Historians have argued that Elizabethan melancholy was pervasive throughout the era,

especially in artistic sectors of society such as musicians. Regarding John Donne’s feeling of

cosmic unease in his poem“The First Anniversarie”, Renaissance scholar Robin Hedlam Wells

argues that “Few creative minds of the period seemto have been immune to the feelings

expressed in these verses. Not only in poetry, but in painting and in music too, the spirit of

melancholy became one of the age's most characteristic features.” David Mateer narrows his

scope to recognize this melancholy at work in the compositions of William Byrd, saying,

“William Byrd’s output during his so-called middle phase is characterized by a gloom and

despondency not wholly attributable to his merely technical interest in the expressive text-setting

of his Continental contemporaries.” Kirsten Gibson and Rosemary Manning detect similar

melancholy in the works of John Dowland, but neither come to a conclusion on the source of his

sadness. As historians slowly began to discover the existence of underground Catholicism in

England during the Protestant Reformation, theories emerged that connected the feeling of

melancholy to artists and musicians who were known to be secretly Catholic. This connection

would prove to be an important step to uncovering a possible theory as to why the compositions

of John Dowland and William Byrd expressed the melancholic sentiment common to most of

their works. Following this tradition, I argue that the melancholy experienced by musicians such

as Dowland and Byrd finds its roots in the repressive treatment of Catholics during the

Elizabethan era.

In order to properly analyze Elizabethan melancholy, as seen in the works of Dowland

and Byrd, it is important to detail the history of Protestant/Catholic relations in England during

the period from 1527 until 1558. When King Henry VIII broke ties with the Catholic Church in

1527, he began an extended period of hostile relations between Catholics and Protestants in

England that exists to this day. Henry VIII, along with his advisor Thomas Cramner, passed

several laws that dissolved monasteries,declared the Supremacy of the Ruler of England over

the Church of England, and rewrote the theology of English Churches. It was not until 1547, in

the reign of King Edward, Henry’s son, however, that English theology became markedly

Protestant. Being a minority ruler, Edward was greatly influenced by his largely Protestant

advisors to adopt many of the European changes to traditional theology in order to further

separate the Church of England from what was viewed as the corruption that existed in the

Catholic Church. In 1553, when Edward died, his half-sister Mary assumed the throne. Having

been raised by Henry’s first wife Catherine of Aragon who was originally from Spain, a highly

Catholic country, Mary was a devout Catholic who, upon assuming the throne, reversed all of the

religious reformation that had been put in place over the previous 25 years. She also greatly

persecuted those Protestants who defied her statutes, putting many of them to death. It is in this

context that we understand the persecution of Catholics during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

When Queen Elizabeth took the throne in England in 1558, she followed 30 years of

religious conflict between Catholics and Anglicans. As Elizabeth began her reign, there were

many people in England remained Catholic following the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and

Mary I. Because of this, Elizabeth passed several religious laws to cement the legitimacy of her

claim to the throne. These included a new Act of Supremacy that declared Elizabeth the Supreme

Governor of the Church of England, the Act of Uniformity which required compulsory

attendance at Anglican Services by all English citizens, and recusancy laws which allowed

punishment for violations of the Act of Uniformity. These laws, while not directly outlawing

Catholic worship, were meant to discourage Catholics from continuing to openly express their

faith. Because of this, many Catholics went underground, holding secret Masses while appearing

to follow the law by attending Protestant services.

One of these underground Catholics was a composer and lutenist named John Dowland.

Dowland converted to Catholicism in the 1580s while traveling across continental Europe

composing pieces for royals in many countries such as Denmark and France. When he returned

to England near the turn of the century, he made several attempts to become a court musician for

Elizabeth. He was repeatedly denied the position and began to claim that his faith kept him from

being given the position. By the time he published his First Book of Songs in 1597,he was

experiencingin his eyes, quite depressing existence. Compositions such as “Burst forth my

teares,” “Go cristall teares,” and “Come heavy sleep” reflect this melancholic theme, with

sorrowful lyrics and minimal instrumentation. The lyrics of “Burst forth my teares” express an

especially melancholy sentiment while possibly containing a deeper symbolic interpretation;

“Burst forth, my tears, assist my forward grief,

And show what pain imperious Love provokes.

Kind tender lambs, lament Love's scant relief

And pine, since pensive Care my freedom yokes.

O pine to see me pine, my tender flocks.

Sad, sad pining Care, that never may have peace,

At Beauty's gate in hope of pity knocks.

But Mercy sleeps while deep Disdain increase,

And Beauty Hope in her fair bosom locks.

O grieve to hear my grief, my tender flocks.

Like, like to the winds my sighs have winged been,

Yet are my sighs and suits repaid with mocks.

I plead, yet she repineth at my teen.

O ruthless rigour harder than the rocks,

That both the shepherd kills and his poor flocks” (Dowland 11)

In this piece, the speaker repeatedly describes his sighs of grief that have been carried off

on the winds, mocking being the only reply. In the first stanza, Dowland uses the word

“imperious” to describe akind of love that gives him pain. The Oxford English Dictionary gives

two key definitions for “imperious.” The first is “Having the rank of, or belonging to or befitting,

an emperor or supreme ruler” and the second is “Overbearing, domineering, dictatorial” (OUP).

To an underground Catholic, both of these definitions fit the perception of Queen Elizabeth I,

who declared herself Supreme Governor of the Church of England and was described as

overbearing and dictatorial. In the piece, the speaker sighs and weeps in order to show the type

of pain that a supreme, domineering overseer causes. Dowland was torn between his duty to God

and his duty to Queen and Country, symbolized by the words of the speaker in “Burst forth my

teares.” He feels a deep love for his country and, by extension, Queen Elizabeth but experiences

pain and sorrow because of the inability to express his Catholic faith outwardly.

William Byrd experienced similar emotions, having converted to Catholicism around the

same time as Dowland and suffered many of the same persecutions under Elizabethan law. In

fact,around the time that Byrd published his collection of psalms, he was indicted for recusancy

several times, although there are conflicting reports concerning his punishment (Mateer 12). In

his early career, Byrd wrote many pieces for Anglican services and set excerpts from the English

translation of the Bible to music, appearing to all to be a devout Anglican. But on his own time,

Byrd attended Catholic Mass and wrote pieces in Latin to be performed at these Masses. Byrd’s

conflicting faith can be seen especially in his choice of psalms in his collection Psalms, Sonnets,

and Songs of Sadness and Piety, published in 1588. Ofthe ten psalms for which Byrd composed

pieces, nine involve themes of oppression, remorse, or sadness. These psalms present an

interesting dichotomy between the outwardly Anglican but inwardly Catholic Byrd. While Byrd

uses the translations of the ten psalms found in the Book of Common Prayer, a tenant of the

Church of England, he them to make a statement about the oppression of Catholics by the

Anglican government.

The lyrics of many of the psalms that Byrd set to music convey this feeling of oppression

that Byrd shared with many of his fellow Catholics in England:

“For they in counsel do conspire/to charge me with some ill/So in

their hasty wrath and ire/they doe pursue mee still,” (Byrd 3)

“The mightie proud men of the world/that seekes us to

oppresse/have fild our soules with all contempts/and left us in

distresse,” (Byrd 4)

“For the destruction of the just/and such as bee opprest/And for the

mournings of the poore/that likewise bee distrest,” and

“In misty clouds of troubles dark/Which do the just oppress/The

Lord in mercy send them light/And easeth their distress” (Byrd

9,10)

These verses reflect the situation that Catholics faced under the rule of Elizabeth. The psalms

that Byrd selected appear to help Catholics oppressed by Elizabeth find strength in their faith,

that God will deliver them from their enemies and that they will not suffer in vain.

This feeling of hope is visible in all ten of the psalms that Byrd composed for, harkening

back to the hope of the Israelites in the Old Testament. Just as the Israelites, especially King

David who is credited with writing many of the songs, express hope for forgiveness by God and

deliverance fromreligious oppression, the Catholics living in England during the reign of Queen

Elizabeth I expressed hope for an increase in religious toleration and an end to their persecution.

This hope is most visible in lines such as

“Beehold even as the servants eyes/Upon their master waite/And

as the maide her mistris hand/with carefull eye and straite/Attends:

So wee O Lord our God/thy throne with hope and griefe” and “But

in thy mercie Lord I trust/for that shall mee defend/My heart doth

joye, to see the help/which thou to mee wilt send/Unto the Lord

therefore I sing/and do lift up my voice/And for his goodnesse

shew’d to mee/I will alway rejoyce” (Byrd 4,7).

in which the speaker expresses their continued devotion to God even in times of oppression and

sorrow. Byrd’s choice of psalms and his decision to arrange them á cappella in order to highlight

the lyrics show his intention to compare the Catholics persecuted under Elizabeth to the Israelites

of the Old Testament who, although continually oppressed, maintained hope that God would

deliver themfrom their trials.

John Dowland does not seem to share Byrd’s hopes though, as very few of the pieces in

Dowland’s First Book of Songs seem to have any positive connotation and the ones that do are

nothing but simple love songs without any expression of deeper meaning. The most affecting of

Dowland’s pieces are usually those in which there appears to be some deeper nuance that is

commonly negative. Pieces like “Come, heavy sleep” and “Burst forth my teares” seem to reflect

Dowland’s true feelings whereas pieces like “My thoughts are wing’d with hopes” seem more

like attempts to duplicate the love poems like Shakespeare’s sonnets that were popular at the

time. Where the psalms chosen by Byrd contained both statements of melancholy and statements

of hope, Dowland’s main compositions include only statements of melancholy, reflecting two

different positions on the phenomenon of Elizabethan Melancholy and response to this

experience.

John Dowland and William Byrd are two of the foremost examples of Elizabethan

melancholy in music and both approach this melancholy in different ways. While Byrd sees hope

for a resolution to the situation that he and his fellow Catholics face under Queen Elizabeth,

Dowland does not express any hope, instead wallowing in the nagging sadness that continued to

haunt him throughout his life. Both Dowland and Byrd express melancholic tendencies

throughout a majority of their compositions, with much of Dowland’s First Booke of Songs in

particular displaying a feeling of reservation and sadness common to many Catholic composers

and artists of the era.

Works Cited

Byrd,William. “Psalmes, Sonets, & Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, Made into Musicke of Fiue Parts Whereof, Some of Them Going Abroad among Diuers, in Vntrue Coppies, Are Heere Truely Corrected, and Th [Sic] Other Being Songs Very Rare & Newly Composed, Are Heere Published, for the Recreation of All Such as Delight in Musick” (1588), 3-10.

Dowland, John. “The First Booke of Songs or Ayres of Foure Parts with Tablature for the Lute” (1597), 11.

“Imperious, Adj.,” OED Online (Oxford University Press), accessed November 25, 2018, http://www.oed.com.msm.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/92297.

Mateer,David. “William Byrd’s Middlesex Recusancy,” Music & Letters 78, no. 1 (1997): 12. White, Alexander. The Four Temperaments (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1895).