SONG: WEEP YOU NO MORE, SAD FOUNTAINS

Anonymous

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1

Weep You No More, Sad Fountains is a melancholy English ballad

from the Elizabethan era. The poem has an interesting structure of

rhythm and rhyme, set in a falling pattern, creating a somber yet

soothing lyrical work. The metaphors used provide images of melting

snow and flowing fountains while comforting the poet’s intended

readers. Because this poem has unknown origins, readers can only infer

the poet’s intentions regarding this lovely ballad.

Some believe that the poem originated as a ballad performed by lute

players in 17th-century English courts, with well-to-do people and

farmers alike acting as the audience.

Credit for this poem is given to John Dowland, who was appointed as

one of the king’s lute players in 1612.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2

Love, religion, and death were popular themes for poetry at the

time.

The poem’s title refers to fountains. During the Renaissance,

fountains were often seen in the gardens of the rich. All other

fountains were used only for practical purposes, such as bathing and

washing. Combining “sad” with “fountains” introduces the idea of

tears.

Weep you no more, // sad fountains; aWhat need you flow so fast? bLook how the snowy mountains a Heaven’s sun doth gently waste. b ½ But my sun’s heavenly eyes cView not your weeping, dThat now lies sleeping dSoftly, // now softly lies cSleeping. d

Sleep is a reconciling, eA rest that peace begets: fDoth not the sun rise smiling eWhen fair at even he sets? fRest you then, rest, sad eyes, cMelt not in weeping, dWhile she lies sleeping, dSoftly, // now softly lies cSleeping. d

What need you = what reason is there for you toWaste = erodeBegets = engenders, producesFair = finelyEven = evening

The metaphor in lines 3-4—that of the sun melting the snow on “mountains” (line 3)—implies that hardship, however insurmountable it may seem, will eventually diminish and disappear, as per nature’s course. The fact that the sun, which bears no connection to mountains, is said to be instrumental in melting the snow hints at the necessity of an external palliative to assuage one’s sorrow.

Religious themes were popular in Renaissance poetry, so the phrase “heavenly eyes” (line 4) may be a reference to God, with the following statement about the blindness of the person in question to the addressee’s “weeping” (line 5) implying that God does not acknowledge his or her despair.

The word “sleeping” (lines 7, 9, 16, and 18) may be given two interpretations: firstly, it may be used in its literal sense, implying not death, but simply an argument resulting in tears and exhaustion; secondly, it may serve as a metaphor for death, in which case both the poet and the addressee may be said to be in mourning.

THEME: grief, sorrow, death, with a touch of

hope.ANALYSIS 1

The poem is composed in a largely irregular meter, with hypercatalexis and initial trochaic substitutions—the latter

of which appears among iambs—constituting the only discernible pattern. Nonetheless, the very irregularity of the meter hints at emotional turmoil, which would be the natural result of the death

of a loved one. The rhyme scheme likewise lacks consistency, yet its

dominant feature is the repetition of its cddcd section in the latter part of both stanzas, as well as the identical refrain

“Softly, now softly lies / Sleeping” in lines 8-9 and 17-18; both of these

attributes focus on a crucial facet of the poem’s theme, namely the hope that the deceased has attained peace in death.

Similarly, the occurrence of enjambment and end-stopped lines does not exhibit a

clear-cut pattern; confusion is thus created, as though the poet’s attempt at

persuasion were rooted in necessity rather than certainty.

The identity of the poem’s addressee remains unclear: the demand to stop crying around which the poem is built may be meant either

for an unnamed acquaintance, or, indeed, for the poet himself. (The

use of the pronoun “she” in line 16 to refer to the

deceased may identify the poet as a man who mourns for his wife.) The latter of these two possibilities may

be supported by the assumption that the “sad fountains” in line 1 are a metaphor for the poet’s

eyes. Notwithstanding the addressee, the tone of the poem is gently persuasive, tinged with subdued grief, which implies that the poet

is in mourning as well.

“Reconciling” (line 10) may refer either to making up after an argument, or to accepting death and reconciling with one’s Maker (i.e., God).

Lines 12-13 imply that the sun continues to rise every morning, undaunted by the knowledge that night will extinguish its light; this may refer to the perspective that life goes on in spite of sorrow and mishaps. Alternatively, if one assumes the “sun” (line 12) to be a metaphor for the deceased, one may infer that the lines in question express the poet’s belief in an afterlife. Moreover, the use of the word “fair” (line 13) may hint at more than beauty, representing a quick, painless death.

ANALYSIS 2

Weep you no more, // sad fountains; aWhat need you flow so fast? bLook how the snowy mountains a Heaven’s sun doth gently waste. b ½ But my sun’s heavenly eyes cView not your weeping, dThat now lies sleeping dSoftly, // now softly lies cSleeping. d

Sleep is a reconciling, eA rest that peace begets: fDoth not the sun rise smiling eWhen fair at even he sets? fRest you then, rest, sad eyes, cMelt not in weeping, dWhile she lies sleeping, dSoftly, // now softly lies cSleeping. d

The alliteration of the letter “f” in the phrase “flow so fast” (line 2) creates a soft, breathy sound indicative of the

poet’s inability to stop the addressee’s tears. The phrase in question calls for an

almost elegiac tone, in which is contained not only the poet’s own

sorrow, but also his frustration: he is, after all, clutching at straws,

desperately wishing to alleviate the addressee’s sense of loss, yet being at a

loss to finding viable solutions. The caesurae in lines 8 and 17 serve a dual

purpose. Firstly, they force readers to pause, allowing the implications of the word “softly”

(lines 8, 17) to sink in: the poet is thereby expressing the hope that the deceased may

finally find peace in death. Secondly, it emphasizes the poet’s use of sibilance: despite the hopeful message of the lines in question,

the alliteration of the letter “s” instills a pervading sense of sorrow, implying that the

poet is as yet unable to fully accept the loss of the lady briefly mentioned in the poem.