Corpus Christi Carol
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Corpus Christi Carol is a Middle or Early Modern English hymn (or carol), first found in a manuscript written around 1504 of an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous.
The predominant theory about the meaning of the carol is that it is concerned with the legend of the Holy Grail. In Arthurian traditions of the Grail story, the Fisher King is the knight who is the Grail's protector, and whose legs are perpetually wounded. Another theory is that the text is an allegory where Christ, referenced in the Crucifixion, is a wounded knight. One recent interpretation is that it was composed about the execution of Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII, whose badge was a falcon. However, since Anne Boleyn was killed in 1536 and the earliest copy carol yet found is from 1504, this is most unlikely.[1]
English composers Peter Warlock and Benjamin Britten have both used the carol in composition and applied it to those that died at war. Warlock's setting dates from 1919 and Britten's (the fifth variation in his opus 3, "A boy was born") from 1933.
Singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley included his interpretation of Britten's work on his debut 1994 album, Grace. About his version Buckley said, "The 'Carol' is a fairytale about a falcon who takes the beloved of the singer to an orchard. The singer goes looking for her and arrives at a chamber where his beloved lies next to a bleeding knight and a tomb with Christ's body in it."[2]
A more modern arrangement was crafted by composer John Gerrish in the mid 20th century, titled "The Falcon."
The carol is featured in The Choirboys's album, The Choirboys, released in 2005. It is also sung in Season 1, Episode 2 of the newly released drama on Showtime, The Tudors.
[edit] Lyrics
| “Corpus Christi Carol” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Jeff Buckley | |||||
| Released | August 23, 1994 | ||||
| Recorded | Bearsville Recording Studio, Woodstock, NY | ||||
| Genre | Alternative | ||||
| Length | 51:44 | ||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||
| Producer | Jeff Buckley Andy Wallace |
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| Grace track listing | |||||
|
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Lulley, lully, lulley, lully,
The faucon hath born my mak away.
He bare hym up, he bare hym down,
He bare hym into an orchard brown.
In that orchard ther was an hall,
That was hanged with purpill and pall.
And in that hall ther was a bede,
Hit was hangid with gold so rede.
And yn that bed ther lythe a knyght,
His wowndes bledyng day and nyght.
By that bedes side ther kneleth a may,
And she wepeth both nyght and day.
And by that bedes side ther stondith a ston,
"Corpus Christi" wretyn theron.
[edit] Glossary
faucon: falcon
mak: mate, love
bare: bore, carried
purpill: purple (the royal color)
pall: a funeral pall, a cloth spread over a coffin
bede: bed
rede: red
lythe: lyeth, lies
wowndes: wounds
bledyng: bleeding
kneleth: kneeleth, kneels
may: maid, maiden
wepeth: weepeth, weeps
stondith: standith, stands
ston: stone
Corpus Christi: body of Christ (latin)
wretyn: written
