Benjamin Britten
Miscellaneous
This Little Babe
This little babe just three days old,
Is come to rival Satan's hold
All hell doth at his presence quake,
though he himself for cold do shake;
For in this weak unarmored wise
the gates of hell he will surprise.
With tears he fights and wins the field,
his naked breast stands for a shield.
His battering shot are babish cries,
his arrows looks of weeping eyes.
His martial ensigns Cold and Need,
and feeble flesh his warrior's steed.
His camp is pitched in a stall,
his bulwark but a broken wall;
The crib his trench, haystalks his stakes,
of shepherds he his muster makes.
And thus as sure his foe to wound,
the angels' trumps alarum sound
My soul with Christ
join thou in fight;
stick to the tents
that he hath pight.
Within his crib
is surest ward;
this little Babe
will by thy guard.
If thou wilt foil thy
foes with joy, then
flit not from this
heavenly boy!
About This Song
"This Little Babe" is a profound meditation on the paradox of divine power manifested through ultimate vulnerability, transforming the traditional Christmas nativity into a cosmic battle between good and evil. Britten sets Robert Southwell's 16th-century text as part of his larger work "A Ceremony of Carols," creating a piece that subverts expectations by depicting the infant Christ not as a gentle savior but as a warrior whose weapons are tears, cries, and helplessness itself. The lyrics present a startling inversion of military imagery-where traditional warfare relies on strength and armor, this divine child conquers through weakness, cold, and need, suggesting that true power lies in embracing rather than rejecting human frailty. Britten's musical setting amplifies this paradox through crystalline boy soprano voices that embody both innocence and otherworldly authority, while the harp accompaniment creates an ethereal yet urgent atmosphere. The composer's harmonic language balances modal antiquity with modern dissonance, reflecting the timeless yet revolutionary nature of the incarnation story. The piece resonated deeply with post-war audiences who had witnessed how supposed strength and power could lead to devastation, while this "weak unarmored" figure offered a radically different model of triumph. Rather than sentimentalizing the Christmas story, Britten presents it as a profound theological statement about the nature of divine intervention and the transformative power of vulnerability in a world obsessed with force.
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