Shakespeare Songs, Book III

by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968)

1. Orpheus  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain-tops that freeze,
  Bow themselves, when he did sing:	
To his music, plants and flowers
Ever [sprung]1; as sun and showers
  There had made a lasting spring.

Everything that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
  Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art:
Killing care and grief of heart
  Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.

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Note: according to Miscellanies, Issues 3-4, published by the New Shakspere Society of Great Britain, "Shakspere wrote only 1168.5 of the 2822 lines of the play. The rest are Fletcher's." The song is part of the Fletcher portion of Henry VIII, and appears in Act III scene 1.

1 Greene: "rose"; Blitzstein: "sprang"

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

2. Silvia  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: German (Deutsch) 
Was ist Silvia, saget an,
Daß sie die weite Flur preist?
Schön und zart seh' ich sie nah'n,
Auf Himmels Gunst und Spur weist,
Daß ihr Alles unterthan.

Ist sie schön und gut dazu?
Reiz labt wie milde Kindheit;
Ihrem Aug' eilt Amor zu,
Dort heilt er seine Blindheit,
Und verweilt in süßer Ruh.

Darum Silvia tön', o Sang,
Der holden Silvia Ehren;
Jeden Reiz besiegt sie lang,
Den Erde kann gewähren:
Kränze ihr und Saitenklang!

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Aan Silvia", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Chi è mai Silvia che i pastori", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , "A Silvia", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Confirmed with William Shakspeare's [sic] sämmtliche dramatische Werke übersetzt im Metrum des Originals II. Bändchen. Die beiden Edelleute von Verona, von Bauernfeld. Wien. Druck und Verlag von J. P. Sollinger. 1825, page 55; and with William Shakspeare's sämmtliche dramatische Werke und Gedichte. Uebersetzt im Metrum des Originals in einem Bande nebst Supplement, [...] Wien. Zu haben bei Rudolph Sammer, Buchhändler. Verlegt bei J. P. Sollinger, 1826, page 32.

Note: The song appears in Die beiden Edelleute von Verona, act 4, scene 2.


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

3. For the rain it raineth every day  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
When that I was and a little tiny boy,
[With]1 hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate,
[With]1 hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
[With]1 hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world [begun]2,
[With]1 hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that's all one, our play is done,
And we'll strive to please you every day.

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1 Amram: "With a"
2 Amram: "began"

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
Total word count: 294