The Coming of Christ
By mercy and by martyrdom
And many ways, God leads us home
And many darknesses there are
By darkness and the light he leads
He gives according to our needs
And in his darkness is a star
I have been reading John Masefield's The Coming of Christ. It is an extraordinary nativity play written to be performed in Canterbury Cathedral, with music by Host, it has no Joseph, a non-speaking Mary who only appears right in the final end
William Demastes and Katherine Kelly and in “British Playwrights, 1880-1956” comment that:
“The prime mover within the church was the then Dean of Canterbury, later Bishop of Chichester, George K. A. Bell, who in 1928 invited John Masefield to write a play for performance on the steps of Canterbury Cathedral. The play was his Coming of Christ.”
“Masefield's contributions to religious drama include Good Friday, which opened on 25 February 1916 at the Garrick Theatre, London, and The Coming of Christ, written at the invitation of Bishop Bell for Canterbury Cathedral and premiered on 28 April 1928.”
There are three wise men but they are worldly-wise wise men (representing political power, economic power, and dilettante New Age mysticism), three shepherds (Rocky, Sandy, Earthy, all working class, two of which are seeking a better deal for the poor by revolution)
There is also a pre-birth "Anima Christi", and unnamed Angels titled The Power, The Sword, The Mercy and the Light.... and to top it, a cameo from the spirits to come of Peter and Paul.
This is not a nativity play for children to perform, it is in many respects more akin to a Miracle Play of the Middle Ages where there was a "Parliament of Angels".
The Four Angels:
We see the world of men seizing and slaying,
Lusting for wealth, destroying and betraying,
With neither hope nor peace,
Save greed, between their darkness and decaying.
They come out of a darkness; they awaken
To the Blood’s storms, they tremble, they are shaken,
With neither hope nor peace,
They war in bloody blindness until taken.
The Power
I bring the Power of God as God directs
My hand is on the stars and on the tides
What Man least hopes or proud Man least expects
That Power I bring, which being brough abides
The Sword:
I bring God's Justice as a Sword of Fire
That burns up Folly and lays Pride in Dust
Upon the angry Man I am God's Ire
I am God's help to simple Men who Trust
The Mercy
I bring the Mercy of God as peace, as balm
As loving kindness between soul and soul
In the world’s storm I am the central calm
In the world’s sky my brightness is the Pole
The Light
I bring the Light of God into Dark hearts
Through rifts most black my brightness enters in
And all cocks cry aloud and night departs
And in shy meadows dewy dawns begin
The Anima Christ is waiting to be born, and like Job’s conforters, they each argue a case for staying away from the world of men, and “have no comfort, for you task will bring none”.
Men are but animals, and you will fail
This is the harvest you will reap on earth
Your mother, broken-hearted at the cross
Your brother put to death, your comrades scattered
And of the lovely friends you trust in, one
Will seek his own pre-eminence; and one
Will sell you to your foes; one will deny you.
Only The Mercy stands fast with the Anima Christ, and calls forth the spirits of Peter and Paul “Behold two spirits whom yours will make like stars for many centuries”.
But when the Anima Christ comes to be born, all the Angels give him blessing.
After this the Wise Men appear. But these are not the Magi of old, but worldly-wise kings.
Baltasar is a King who knows power. He is the political ruler, whose word can be life and death over his subjects, and who may call them to fight in war. Here is very much the echo of the First World War, and this while not explicit is a background to the play: a world of strife. Later we hear from the Shepherds, complaining about how they are torn from the flocks, and sent to war, sent to die
Gaspar is the financier who controls lives by economic power, while Melchior is the seeker after esoteric wisdom, the one who chase a thousand shadows to find meaning in life. It is only by renunciation that they find fulfilment in their lives, in humbling themselves before the Christ child, born in poverty.
The shepherds are both traumatised from war (the Great War) and also sceptical of the failed promises given by those who sent them to die. This was controversial at the time:
They said that I must serve the state
And fight poor heathen over sea
And there I stayed among the mud
In beds of lice and deeds of blood
Until they chose to let it be
It ‘s time the workers should command and have the wealth they make
We are the ones who will the land, and what we grow they take
The ending is with the angelic refrain by the four beings, and echoes the themes of incarnation in the play: that it is for all, but especially for those trapped by powerlessness and poverty, and as a challenge to the rich and powerful:
Our God is wearing
Man’s flesh and bearing
Man’s cares though caring
What men may be;
Our God is sharing
His light and daring
To help men’s faring
And set men free
By mercy and by martyrdom
And many ways, God leads us home
And many darknesses there are
By darkness and the light he leads
He gives according to our needs
And in his darkness is a star
I have been reading John Masefield's The Coming of Christ. It is an extraordinary nativity play written to be performed in Canterbury Cathedral, with music by Host, it has no Joseph, a non-speaking Mary who only appears right in the final end
William Demastes and Katherine Kelly and in “British Playwrights, 1880-1956” comment that:
“The prime mover within the church was the then Dean of Canterbury, later Bishop of Chichester, George K. A. Bell, who in 1928 invited John Masefield to write a play for performance on the steps of Canterbury Cathedral. The play was his Coming of Christ.”
“Masefield's contributions to religious drama include Good Friday, which opened on 25 February 1916 at the Garrick Theatre, London, and The Coming of Christ, written at the invitation of Bishop Bell for Canterbury Cathedral and premiered on 28 April 1928.”
There are three wise men but they are worldly-wise wise men (representing political power, economic power, and dilettante New Age mysticism), three shepherds (Rocky, Sandy, Earthy, all working class, two of which are seeking a better deal for the poor by revolution)
There is also a pre-birth "Anima Christi", and unnamed Angels titled The Power, The Sword, The Mercy and the Light.... and to top it, a cameo from the spirits to come of Peter and Paul.
This is not a nativity play for children to perform, it is in many respects more akin to a Miracle Play of the Middle Ages where there was a "Parliament of Angels".
The Four Angels:
We see the world of men seizing and slaying,
Lusting for wealth, destroying and betraying,
With neither hope nor peace,
Save greed, between their darkness and decaying.
They come out of a darkness; they awaken
To the Blood’s storms, they tremble, they are shaken,
With neither hope nor peace,
They war in bloody blindness until taken.
The Power
I bring the Power of God as God directs
My hand is on the stars and on the tides
What Man least hopes or proud Man least expects
That Power I bring, which being brough abides
The Sword:
I bring God's Justice as a Sword of Fire
That burns up Folly and lays Pride in Dust
Upon the angry Man I am God's Ire
I am God's help to simple Men who Trust
The Mercy
I bring the Mercy of God as peace, as balm
As loving kindness between soul and soul
In the world’s storm I am the central calm
In the world’s sky my brightness is the Pole
The Light
I bring the Light of God into Dark hearts
Through rifts most black my brightness enters in
And all cocks cry aloud and night departs
And in shy meadows dewy dawns begin
The Anima Christ is waiting to be born, and like Job’s conforters, they each argue a case for staying away from the world of men, and “have no comfort, for you task will bring none”.
Men are but animals, and you will fail
This is the harvest you will reap on earth
Your mother, broken-hearted at the cross
Your brother put to death, your comrades scattered
And of the lovely friends you trust in, one
Will seek his own pre-eminence; and one
Will sell you to your foes; one will deny you.
Only The Mercy stands fast with the Anima Christ, and calls forth the spirits of Peter and Paul “Behold two spirits whom yours will make like stars for many centuries”.
But when the Anima Christ comes to be born, all the Angels give him blessing.
After this the Wise Men appear. But these are not the Magi of old, but worldly-wise kings.
Baltasar is a King who knows power. He is the political ruler, whose word can be life and death over his subjects, and who may call them to fight in war. Here is very much the echo of the First World War, and this while not explicit is a background to the play: a world of strife. Later we hear from the Shepherds, complaining about how they are torn from the flocks, and sent to war, sent to die
Gaspar is the financier who controls lives by economic power, while Melchior is the seeker after esoteric wisdom, the one who chase a thousand shadows to find meaning in life. It is only by renunciation that they find fulfilment in their lives, in humbling themselves before the Christ child, born in poverty.
The shepherds are both traumatised from war (the Great War) and also sceptical of the failed promises given by those who sent them to die. This was controversial at the time:
They said that I must serve the state
And fight poor heathen over sea
And there I stayed among the mud
In beds of lice and deeds of blood
Until they chose to let it be
It ‘s time the workers should command and have the wealth they make
We are the ones who will the land, and what we grow they take
The ending is with the angelic refrain by the four beings, and echoes the themes of incarnation in the play: that it is for all, but especially for those trapped by powerlessness and poverty, and as a challenge to the rich and powerful:
Our God is wearing
Man’s flesh and bearing
Man’s cares though caring
What men may be;
Our God is sharing
His light and daring
To help men’s faring
And set men free
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