He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone; At his head a grass green turf, At his heels a stone.1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)These words are sung by Ophelia in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5, but they are probably not by Shakespeare.
1 Rihm adds (using some words that are spoken in the Hamlet play): "Oho! Oho! Nay, but ... mark"Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "He is dead and gone", copyright © 2005 [ soprano, harp and strings ], from Ophelia Songs, no. 2, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wolfgang Michael Rihm (b. 1952), "He is dead and gone, lady", from Ophelia Sings, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
This text (or a part of it) is used in a work
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "How should I your true love know", WoO posth. 22 no. 1 (1873), from Ophelia-Lieder, no. 1, also set in German (Deutsch)
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Ophelia's Song", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "How should I your true love know", op. 30 no. 3 (1933), published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs (Third Set), no. 3, London, Boosey
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Johannes Brahms.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (1744 - 1816) , no title, appears in Dramatische Werke, in Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark. Ein Trauerspiel in sechs Aufzügen. Nach Shakesspear [sic] ; composed by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg.
- Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) , no title ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Karl Joseph Simrock) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet
- GER German (Deutsch) (August Wilhelm Schlegel)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Friedrich Ludwig Schröder) , no title, appears in Dramatische Werke, in Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark. Ein Trauerspiel in sechs Aufzügen. Nach Shakesspear [sic]
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , no title, copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Krystyn Ostrowski) , no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-24
Line count: 4
Word count: 23
Er ist todt und lange hin, Todt und hin, Fräulein; Ihm zu Häupten grünes Gras, Ihm zu Fuß ein Stein. O, ho!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark, übersetzt von Karl Simrock, in: William Shakspear’s[sic] sämmtliche dramatische Werke in neuen Uebersetzungen, Leipzig: Georg Wigand’s Verlag, [no year], page 686
Note: according to The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss, ed. by Charles Youmans, Seeger is listed as the translator of Hamlet, but Seeger's translations are quite different. Simrock and Seeger are listed together as the translators for the ten-volume set.
Authorship:
- by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876), no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864)
Based on:
- a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist and misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Erstes Lied der Ophelia", op. 67 (Sechs Lieder), Heft 1 no. 1 (1918)
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , no title, copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , no title, copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-26
Line count: 5
Word count: 22