"The Song of Willow" O, misery!

The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,

Sing all a green willow:

Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,

Sing willow, willow, willow:

The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans;

Sing willow, willow, willow;

Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones;

Lay by these:--

Singing

Sing willow, willow, willow;

Prithee, hie thee; he'll come anon:--

Singing

Sing all a green willow must be my garland.

Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve,-

Nay, that's not next.--Hark! who is't that knocks?

This song is sung by Desdemona a few minutes before her death. At this point I think she knows that Othello has been led down a course she does not understand and feels she cannot avert.

'Shakespeare's revision of the words of this song, his requirements of the music, the subtle and purposeful way in which he has embedded the composition in his scene, comprise of one of his most astonishing feats in dramaturgy (playwriting)- a feat which has not yet been completely analysed and evaluated.'

In my opinion this song gives more insight into Desdemonas character than any soliloquoy of hers could have done.
Her premonition of death pervades the scene. As she asks Emilia to unpin her she recalls a song sung by her mother's maid Barbary. Barbary sang this song because the man to whom she was in love "prov'd mad,/ And did forsake her (4.3.27-28)." So in love was she, and so overwhelmed with sadness, that when she sang the song, "she died singing it (4.3.30)." It expressed Barbary's fate, and for some reason that song came back to haunt Desdemona's memory and she also began to sing it.

She started singing a made up part of the song which revealed her inner feelings but quickly corrected herself: 'Let nobody blame him: his scorn I approve, - nay! thats not next'

'We find our lives in music; we find ourselves in witnessing the performance of others. We enter into that performance, adding meaning where meaning is only adumbrated. We sing the verses, weeping by the fresh streams with tears that soften the stones, adding our own woes to the troubles of the song. Art not only shows us life but leads us to act on our own life by seeing our life in the artistic representation. It is neither good nor bad; neither moral nor immoral. It is a picture of our lives, painted by others, that we need to enter into and complete. Our lives are not complete until we listen to the art, watch it closely, sing it and lose ourselves, and maybe our lives, in it.' -- William R. Long

p.s. Desdemona has often been called the heroine! I know shes not exactly a villainous character but heroine!?!?

Scarlett