A Song for St. Cecilia’s DayBy John Dryden

A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day’ is a well-known poem of John Dryden, written on the occasion of Saint Cecilia’s Day (22nd November 1687). It praises the power of music and the patron St. Cecilia in an awe-inspiring tone.

John Dryden was an English poet and translator. He was appointed as England’s first Poet Laureate in 1668.

He was crucial to the literary world during the Restoration period.

Dryden separated this poem into eight sections. In each stanza he talks about different aspects of music and classical musicians. The first stanza introduces to the audience how divine harmony lies in everything. Music, being a divine art form, infuses life into nature. From the following stanza, the poetic stanza talks about different instruments such as “corded shell,” trumpet, drum, flute, violin, and last but not least, Cecilia’s organ. In the last stanza, there is a reference to the revolutionary aspect of music that can even destabilize heaven!

Structure of the poem 

This poem does not have a specific rhyming pattern. The poet chooses the alternative and closed rhymescheme. In some instances, there are some rhymingcouplets. The iambic meterris mostly used in this piece. But, there is not any metrical pattern

Historical Context

‘A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day’ was occasioned for the ceremony of the patron saint of music, Cecilia’s feat. Dryden wrote this poem for the musical celebration of St. Cecilia’s Day, observed on 22nd November 1687, a year before his term as the poet laureate of Uended.

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