- "Kentish Town, love-hungry pilgrims, no bodies to feed..."
Robert Pahre suggests that
" 'Kentish town' is a reference to
Canterbury, seat of the Archbishop of
Canterbury." Canterbury has been a city of
pilgrimage since Thomas à Beckett was killed
there in the 11th century. Some kind of pilgrims
turn up here: "... a new breed
of love-hungry pilgrims". These
pilgrims don't have to be fed anymore, since they
are dead: "no bodies to feed"
might refer to the fact that in the middle ages
pilgrims received free meals in the monastries
during their stay and a place to sleep. Neil
R. Thomason and Thomas Birch point
out that Kentish Town is in fact the name of a
district of London, near Camden. We might have to
do here with one of Ian's double 'entendres'.
* Jan Voorbij
- "Pick up thy bed and rise...."
Referring to the Bible-verse, John
5:8:" Jesus saith unto him, rise, take
up they bed, and walk".
- "Fell with mine angels..."
Possibly from the first chapter of
Milton's "Paradise Lost":
"Th' infernal Serpent;
he it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms."
- "Lord
of the Flies"
Referring to Beelzebub, one of 'the
fallen angels'. Beelzebub literally means
"the lord of the flies" in Hebrew.
* Leigh-Ann Hussey (The
Annotated Passion Play)
- "Pick me up at half past none
....."
From this verse-line up to "I'd stay but my wings have
just dropped off." there are
two possible references, but I am not sure which
one is right. One might be referring to dying,
the other might be - once again - a biblical one
referring to 'resurrection on the youngest day'."Half
past none" suggests the end of time,
the moment when we are supposed to be"picked
up", according to
John in chapter 20. The train is
symbolic for the life we have lived full of rush
and hurry, our own personal passion play; 'the old shoes on the
platform' possibly stand for everything we
leave behind when dying: our earthly life, our
history and our body. But departing without shoes
also suggests a kind of nakedness, vulnerabilty
perhaps. All that is left of us is the nucleus of
what and who we essentially are. That part of us
travels further. In the context of the verses
that follow I tend to assume that the second
reference might be correct, though the line "I'd
stay but my wings have just dropped off" pleas in
favour of the first one.
* Jan Voorbij
- "Magus Perde"
Magus (1) -i, m. a learned Persian,
a magician; magus (2) -a -um, magical. Magus
Perde is a medieval latin term that
translates roughly into 'Supreme Magician' or '
extreme magician'. I cannot tell you its origin
however, I have two ideas - either it was a
church term for the devil or it is an alchemical
term for god, or both.
* Reddred
- In
Antiquity and during the middle ages there was
the common notion among intellectuals, that
wizards, magicians etc. stemmed from Persia, in
fact from Babylon. These magicians originally had
a religious, priest-like function in the society
of the old Babylon, reading the stars, explaining
the will of the gods, telling fortune,
excercising black magic, alchemy, medicine and
mathematics. "Loose a wish to still the rain,
the storm about to be" : they
were supposed to have contact with and have
partly power over supernatural forces and could
influence the course of ones life, the weather,
and were therefore consulted by kings and
magistrats. There is a connection between these
magicians, gnosticism and alchemy (including
witchcraft). And as gnosticism and alchemy were
by the official church considered as the works of
the devil these people were often protrayed as a
devil and persecuted. It is very well possible,
that in the context of A Passion Play this Magus
Perde-figure stands for the devil. Via Leigh-Ann
Hussey I found this striking tarot-card with an
image of the devil, who with his chain keeps men
and women emprisoned: "Magus
Perde, take
your hand from of the chain":
* Jan Voorbij
- After
the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066 and the
subsequent crowning of William the Conqueror,
French became the official language of the Court
and of learnèd discourse. One of the common
oaths to enter into early English literature was
the French 'per Dieux', meaning 'by God', with
this example taken from Chaucer's poem 'Trolius
and Criseyde' (c.1384):
"I have herd told, perdieux, of youre
lyuynge,
ye loueres, and youre lewd obseruances . .
."
In the same poem, Chaucer also gives the phrase
in its shortened form (a later example of this
linguistic habit can be seen in the use of the
exclamation 'Zounds!' rather than the original
'God's wounds!') --
"And yet thow hast this comfort, lo,
perde . . "
As an abbreviation rather than a proper word,
variants in spelling were common: 'perdee',
'pardy', 'perdi', 'parde'.
The mediaeval English mystery plays, which date
from this same period, also contain many examples
of the word. These mystery plays were originally
oral dramas performed by different tradesmen
within the towns and villages in order to enact
popular Bible stories in the common tongue. The
plays of York, Chester and Towneley provide the
best surviving examples, ranging from the
Creation right through to Judgement Day.
This body of early English literature is also the
source of what are now referred to as Passion
Plays, the ritual drama of Christ's arrest,
trial, crucifixion, harrowing of Hell, and final
resurrection.
Here is an example from the Towneley play of
Noah:
"UXOR:
Behald!
It is of an olif tre
A branch, thynkys me.
NOE:
It is soth, perde,
Right so is it cald."
The mystery plays were all heavily rhymed, and
also extremely limited in their rhymes.
From this example it is clear how 'perde' was
pronounced: rhyming with 'tre' (tree) and
'me'. In mediaeval English however, the
word 'tree' sounded much like 'tray', and 'me'
similar to 'may'.
Modern editors of these mystery plays tend to
indicate the correct pronunciation of 'perde' by
adding an acute accent over the final 'e' --
perdé. My guess is that Ian was doing some
background reading into the original Passion
Plays of 14th century England, and caught sight
of this strange word 'perdé' in the text.
Looking to the footnotes or to the glossary, he
would have found it translated as 'by God'.
My own edition of the English mystery plays (ed.
Peter Happé, Penguin Books, 1975) gives the word
no accent, leaving it as it was originally
written. It wasn't until Lois Chadwell Cruz
found this online example (line 83):
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/Camelot/teams/ragnell.htm , that the
likely source of Magus Perdé became clear.
As to the significance of all this, we can only
guess. 'Magus' signifies either a wise
philosopher or a sorcerer, which suggests a
Doctor Faustus character (it may be an obvious
point, but Doctor Faustus made a deal with the
Devil in return for his mortal soul). If the
appellation 'Perdé' is to be given any
significance, we may perhaps look to one of the
Christian mystics such as
Meister Eckhart.
* Andy Jackson
- I
come from Lebanon (an Arab speaking country) and
until I read your annotation of A Passion Play, I
had thought that Magus Perde was a person. Then
it struck me that 'magus' sounds like a word used
in Arabic which roughly translates: a word of
Persian origin- which signifies a sect of people
who worship fire or the sun. As for the
information on the sun or fire worshiping, I
found that under the definition of Magus in an
Arabic dictionary called 'Al Munjid' which is
considered the bible of Arabic language. It also
means a philosopher or wiseman. And from my own
knowledge I believe that the word magus in Arabic
signifies the 3 kings who come from the orient (probably
Persia) to bring gifts to baby Jesus.
* Ghayya Al Amine
- "Tread the knife's edge"
There is a pun on this, of course --
"tough are the souls", but this
line also refers to the sword-bridge over the
Abyss, the most famous instance of which is in
the tale of Lancelot told by Cretien de Troyes
called "Le Chevalier de la Charrete",
or the Knight of the Cart. In it, Lancelot must
undergo numerous humiliating ordeals before
finally coming to the Pont de l'Espee, the Bridge
of the Sword, which he must cross to rescue Queen
Guenevere ("Ganievre" in the French),
who has been kidnapped by Sir Meleagans. To cross
it, he must divest himself of all but his helmet
and hauberk and cross on bare hands and feet.
* Leigh-Ann Hussey (The
Annotated Passion Play)
"Hail!
Son of kings make the ever-dying sign...."
From this point in the lyrics Ian
makes use of several elements of the visions of
St. John concerning the fate of mankind and the
universe, as described in the Book Of Revelation.
The apocalyptical conflict between the powers of
good and evil, God and the devil might be
referred to in these verselines:
"...cross your fingers in
the sky for those about to BE.
There am I waiting along the sand.
Cast your sweet spell upon the land and sea.
Magus Perde, take your hand from off the chain.
Loose a wish to still, the rain,
the storm about to BE. (...)
Break the circle,stretch the line, call upon the
devil.
Bring the gods, the gods' own fire. In the
conflict revel".
* Jan Voorbij
- "The gods' own fire"
This probably refers to the Greek
myth of Prometheus, but one should also bear in
mind that "Lucifer" is Latin for
"light-bearer".
* Leigh-Ann Hussey (The
Annotated Passion Play)
"The passengers upon the ferry
crossing, waiting to be born...."
I assume that here Ian refers to the
river Styx, the river in Greek mythology, that
parts the living from the dead and from where -
once crossed - no return is possible. Only this
time the dead are returning to live and cross the
river once again, called awake by the reveille horn , to make
their appearance for the Last Judgement, in the
hope to gain eternal life ("From
the dark into the ever-day"):
"renew the pledge of life's
long song rise to the reveille horn.
Animals queueing at the gate thatstands upon the
shore
breathe the ever-burning fire that guards the
ever-door".
- "Roll the stone away from the
dark into the everday"
Referring to the Bible-verse, John
20:1: "Early on the first day of the
week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene
went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been
removed from the entrance." (English -
NIV)
* Jan Voorbij
- Andy
Jackson has a different view on Leigh-Ann
Hussey's annotations in which she states there
are references to Dante and Milton in the lyrics
of A Passion Play:
"I must admit I've never really bought the
idea that A Passion Play was *directly* inspired
by Dante or Milton. I don't know how many people
on this list have sat down to read either
'Paradise Lost' or 'The Inferno'. I read Paradise
Lost at university when I was 18, and Christ it
was a chore. All twelve books, over 10,000 lines.
Not exactly bedtime reading. And more to the
point, not part of the 'O' level curriculum
(neither is Dante of course, also a similarly
mind-numbing epic for the first-time reader). So
you would have to assume that Ian read both of
these in his spare time, at some point after
finishing school, just for the hell of it . This
is a guy who says he doesn't like poetry as well
. . . . I just don't see it. What are supposed to
be references to Milton (the fall of Lucifer
seems to be the only one) are pretty much part
and parcel of general knowledge. Next to the
Bible, 'Paradise Lost' was usually the only book
you'd find in your average Protestant household.
The two went hand-in-hand, as being the 'same
story'. And anyway, the story of Lucifer's
fall is right there in the Bible -- Ezekiel,
Isaiah, Job, etc. So knowledge of this particular
story requires no knowledge of 'Paradise Lost' .
. . it's there in every sermon already, as well
as being embedded in the Protestant psyche. The
references to Dante -- again, I don't see it. 'The
old dog howls with madness' being a nod
to Cerberus . . . . Cerberus originates in Greek
myth -- the labours of Hercules -- common stories
for most schoolboys. Even having said that, I
don't see any indication that this is a reference
to Cerberus at all -- Ian's lyrics are full of
dogs. To go from dogs to Dante is stretching it
to say the least. It's more of a challenge to
make some sense out of Ian's constant use of the 'dog'
as a private symbol I think. The 'sweetly-scented
angel' being a reference to Beatrice, or
maybe it's just an angel? No need for Dante here.
Hell being 'icy' -- to me this looks like a
simple creative paradox. Lucifer is 'freezing', i.e.
*non-creative*, as opposed to the fire or flame
of Life. He's a dead-end. You don't have to
plough through 32 Cantos of Dante to come up with
that idea. Also, Ronnie Pilgrim isn't *in* the
lowest circle of Hell at this point on his
journey through the 'icy wastes' -- he's in
limbo -- so the reference wouldn't make sense
even if it were intended. And I guess we're all
familiar with the phrases "It'll be a cold
day in hell before . . ." or "When hell
freezes over." My guess -- Ian has never
read a word of Dante in his life. The poetics of
Milton are as much an accepted part of the
culture as Shakespeare, i.e. you can know the
phrases and images without necessarily knowing
their source. So while these references may
strike a chord with folk who happen to be
(perhaps only slightly) familiar with these
works, I've never seen them as being of any real
use in approaching the Play itself. I guess it's
understandable though -- Satan's fall is
described in the first 300 lines of 'Paradise
Lost' -- anyone picking it up for the first time
gets to read all the racey bits without having to
go any further. Young master Ian may have done
the same I guess".
* Andy Jackson
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