17th-century religious poetry in Florence + the Machine’s “Ceremonials” (2011)

Photo Credits to Island Records (UMG)

             The religious poetry of the 17th century is typically characterized by the poetic tradition of influential poets like John Donne, George Herbert, and Henry Vaughan, who used intricate metaphors, vivid imagery, and intellectual rigor to grapple with the complexities of faith, human frailty, and the divine. In Barbara Kiefer Lewalski’s words, biblical models helped shape contemporary attitudes and contributed to the remarkable flowering of metaphysical poetry (Lewalski 5). To evoke such themes in the 2011 album Ceremonials, the band Florence + the Machine felt emboldened and inspired by 17th-century religious poetry, thus taking an unusual artistic choice of “a lot less indie and lot more soulful” approach in the album to encompass the confessional tones and the hope for redemption intended (BBC)¹. Through a comparative analysis of the album's lyricism, I will argue that the band’s lyrics echo the metaphysical tradition by engaging with religious themes and employing devices that parallel seventeenth-century religious poet John Donne.

            The English-based band had established an indie rock sound by the end of the 2010s with their album debut titled Lungs and their involvement in the Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) Soundtrack.  Their known songs “Dog Days Are Over” and “Howl,” which fall under the indie genre that is known for its low-budget approach, minor advances, and generally being less performance-focused, become contradicted in Ceremonials with tracks like “Only If For A Night” and “Shake It Out.” Florence Welch—the lead vocalist of the band— stated in an MTV exclusive that she wants to capture the mere idea of a performance into a ceremonial event, where people put outfits and engage in Christian exorcism and absolution, thus letting themselves to it (Montgomery). To understand the choice to lean on the soul genre and how it relates to religious poetry, we must articulate how soul music is shaped, which is through the transmutation of the gospel and rhythm and blues into a secular testifying (Ritz).

The first single released, “Shake It Out,” flourishes by utilizing gospel elements, including organs, bells, and tambourines, as its primary instrumentation. Moreover, Welch’s shouting technique of the song's words “shake it off” is an auditory representation of the cathartic release described in the lyrics, mirroring Donne’s Holy Sonnet “Batter my heart, three-person’d God.” Donne’s work portrays it as a radical plea to “o'erthrow me, and bend /Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new” (Donne 3-4). The repetition of the verbs “break,” “batter,” and “burn” in Donne’s sonnet and “shake,” “dragging,” and “pound” in Welch’s song function as a mantra that emphasizes the determination of rebirth and liberating through struggle.

While both works evoke a sense of renewal, they also delve into the guilt of purifying the soul from sin; Donne’s speaker acknowledges his sinful nature and asks God to be “imprisoned” so he can be freed from sin. Similarly, Welch’s “Shake It Out” version of guilt manifests itself as “regrets” and “demons” that haunt the speaker, as well as Donne’s metaphysical exploration of inner conflict (Florence + the Machine – Shake It Out). One could argue otherwise because Welch’s resolution is rooted in personal agency rather than divine intervention; however, the mere aspect of the underlying narrative is that the transformation reflects a spiritual catharsis, which is a central theme to Donne’s work.

The essence of human grievance, loss of innocence, and seeking salvation is captured more apparently in the album through the names of specific tracks; for instance, the eighth track, “Seven Devils,” refers to the Christian classification of the deadly sins of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony (Florence + the Machine —Seven Devils). Despite her plea for redemption, these sins taunt the speaker, representing an internal battle that renders her powerless, eventually succumbing to the tranquil fury exemplified in the creepy pre-chorus piano verse. This echoes John Donne’s portrayal of sin in “A Hymn to God the Father,” which is seen as a continuous and inescapable aspect of human existence. Donne’s speaker is aware of the endless accumulation of sins and his constant reliance on the divine’s mercy by admitting, “When thou hast done, thou hast not done, / For I have more” (Donne “A Hymn to God the Father” 5-6). Both works here use different mediums to evoke human fragility and dramatize the weight of sin on the soul.

            Regarding the concept of Divine revelation, Donne and Welch are not afraid to use a Christian framework and adapt it to their own experiences; Divine revelation in Christianity manifests to either refer to the act/process of revealing something or to the content that is revealed (Wahlberg, 2020). In “Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness” by Donne, the speaker chooses physical straits of illness and suffering as a medium to achieve said revelation. He manifests and anticipates death by letting it become a pathway for which God’s nature and purposes are disclosed in lines “receive me, Lord; / By these his thorns, give me his other crown” (Donne “Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness” 26-27). This concept of revelation is mirrored in the band’s seventh track, “No Light, No Light,” through the recurring imagery of “light” and the soaring vocal technique that resembles the act of unveiling. Something to be veiled creates an absence of clarity, which is exemplified in the lyrics, “No, light no light / In your bright blue eyes” (“Florence + the Machine – No Light, No Light”). Welch’s desperate repeated invocation of light as both an absent and desired force mirrors the metaphysical yearning for revelation in Donne’s theological reflection.

            To support my argument that the band’s choice to incorporate this specific ‘religious imagery’ is intended for the album concept and not merely coincidental, it is also through the visuals, more specifically the music video we are told of a divine revelation, where the main character [portrayed by Welch] is standing to face her death on top of what seems to be a skyscraper, constantly being chased by a man in black body paint, whom we see pinning a voodoo doll (FlorenceMachineVEVO). However, with the increasing intensity of the soaring vocals and beating drums, we see images of a church choir and the character herself running to the church, eventually ending in her being lifted by the choir in a ceremonial event of revelation and freedom.

            Lastly, the band chooses to delve into the metaphysical dimension of love in the song “What the Water Gave Me,” where the union of souls transcends the boundaries of the physical world. In “The Ecstasy” by Donne, the speaker suggests a transformative force that melds the two individuals “And makes both one, each this and that. / A single violet transplant” (Donne “The Ecstasy” 36-37). This depiction of love is a fusion of two spiritual beings; while physical interaction initiates the connection, it is the souls' mingling that represents love’s most genuine, most refined form. Welch portrays this fusion through the conceit of water and its ability to merge. Thus, the self becomes submerged in a larger, almost cosmic force. Welch calls, "Lay me down, / Let the only sound / Be the overflow" (Florence + the Machine – What the Water Gave Me).

            Furthermore, in “What the Water Gave Me,” water bridges the physical and the metaphysical, representing the overwhelming power of love and loss. The act of submerging in water suggests a relinquishing of life but also self-destruction; Welch sings to her significant other to lay her pockets full of stone deep in the water, alluding to images of suicide, which, in the context of the song, becomes a form of sacrifice if that is what it takes for their love to exist. This corresponds to Donne’s exploration of separation and how lovers surrender one's own personal identity for one's love to thrive in the union; this is explained in lines “They'are ours, though they'are not we; we are / The intelligences, they the spheres” (Donne “The Ecstasy” 51-52). In essence, both lovers in Donne’s and Welch’s works sacrifice part of their selves, which in itself is challenging, highlighting the fear of surrendering yourself all to love.

            The artistic choices Florence + the Machine took in the album Ceremonials are just one example showing how art keeps getting reinvited amongst generations; this album and Donne’s work share a timeless connection, united by their exploration of love through the tension between the physical and spiritual. Both bodies of art highlight the vulnerability required to confront one’s deepest fears—whether of sin, separation, or surrender—and depict love and faith as transformative forces and the sacrifices they make us take. Through this shared lens, Ceremonials extend the metaphysical tradition into a modern medium, proving that the human desire to transcend the ordinary remains as potent now as it was in Donne’s era. In addition, adopting such a tradition helps us reflect and pay homage to older works and see how we can adapt them to today’s world.

Notes

1.      I lost the archive of the BBC 2011 interview with the producer who took part in the making of the album.

Works Cited

Donne, John. “A Hymn to God the Father.” The Poetry Foundation, 22 June 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44115/a-hymn-to-god-the-father.

Donne, John. “Holy Sonnets: Batter my heart, three-person’d God.” The Poetry Foundation, 22 June 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44106/holy-sonnets-batter-my-heart-three-persond-god.

Donne, John. “Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness.” The Poetry Foundation, 22 June 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44114/hymn-to-god-my-god-in-my-sickness.

Donne, John. “The Ecstasy.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44099/the-ecstasy. Accessed 14 Dec. 2024.

Florence + the Machine. “No Light, No Light.” Spotify, 28 Oct. 2011, open.spotify.com/track/2Tg2aW6Qfh9fYoUbDgYDXL?si=0c13e4f3850443bc.

FlorenceMachineVEVO. “Florence + the Machine - No Light, No Light.” YouTube, 18 Nov. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGH-4jQZRcc.

Florence + the Machine. “Seven Devils.” Spotify, 28 Oct. 2011, open.spotify.com/track/588kq3Zm0s5mJ8tcQEJPlD?si=08bb87f26c6f4edc.

Florence + the Machine. “Shake It Out.” Spotify, 28 Oct. 2011, open.spotify.com/track/24oq4fE50lbFOCoHIBKcor?si=1c81158841024980.

Florence + the Machine. “What The Water Gave Me.” Spotify, 28 Oct. 2011, open.spotify.com/track/0CWTFnLY7OkDZJ37bYOeIo?si=2f23c198cb0d4a9c.

Lewalski, Barbara Kiefer. Protestant poetics and the seventeenth-century religious lyric. Vol. 735. Princeton University Press, 2014.

Montgomery, James. “Florence and the Machine Reveal Next Single: Exclusive.” MTV News, web.archive.org/web/20140718101809/http://www.mtv.com/news/1672740/florence-and-the-machine-no-light-single.

Ritz, David. “Soul Music | Definition, Songs, Artists, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Oct. 1999, www.britannica.com/art/soul-music.

Wahlberg, Mats. "Divine revelation." 2020.