Expanded Perceptions of Identity in Benjamin Britten's Nocturne, Op. 60 Page: 20
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period 1818-1819 while Shelley was living in Italy. Shelley based his epic poem upon
Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. Shelley was always rebellious, and he identified with
Prometheus, who defied the gods to give fire to man.20 Britten, who also had a tendency to
be subversively rebellious, may have identified with both Shelley and Prometheus, both of
whom did as they pleased in defiance of higher authority.21 "On a poet's lips I slept" is taken
from near the end of Act I. The Furies have been trying to dishearten Prometheus, but spirits
step in to encourage him. The lines in Song One are those of the Fourth Spirit of four, with
the last line, "And I sped to succour thee," cut out.22
"Midnight's bell goes ting," used for the text of Song Four, is taken from a play
written between 1600 and 1602 called Blurt, Master Constable. For many years scholars
believed that Thomas Middleton wrote this play, and it was Middleton whom Britten cited as
the author in the score of the Nocturne. In recent years, it has become clear that the author of
Blurt, Master Constable was in fact Thomas Dekker. Middleton and Dekker may have
collaborated on the play, but, if that is the case, Middleton likely had a very small role in its
creation. Blurt, Master Constable was also known as The Spaniard's Night-walk, and it is
essentially an Elizabethan romantic comedy. 23 "Midnight's bell goes ting" comes from Act
IV, scene ii and is accompanied by the direction "a song within." One of the main
characters, Lazarillo, can hear this song and others coming from another room. The song
20John R. Greenfield, "Percy Bysshe Shelley," in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 96: British
Romantic Poets, 1789-1832, Second Series, ed. John R. Greenfield (1990), UNT Electronic Resources
http://irservices.library.unt.edu (accessed February 25, 2008).
21 Brett often characterizes Britten as both subversive and rebellious. See Brett, "Benjamin Britten."
22Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts," in The Complete Poetical
Works, ed. Thomas Hutchinson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1904), 242.
23Cyrus Hoy, "Thomas Dekker," in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 62: Elizabethan Dramatists, ed.
Fredson Bowers (1987), UNT Electronic Resources http://irservices.library.unt.edu (accessed February 25,
2008).20
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Perkins, Anna Grace. Expanded Perceptions of Identity in Benjamin Britten's Nocturne, Op. 60, thesis, May 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6064/m1/25/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .