Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: [Ding-dong.]1 Hark! now I hear them, - ding-dong bell.
Eight songs for upper voices and piano
Song Cycle by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962)
1. Full fathom five  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Vijf vadem diep", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy de Pourtalès)
- FRE French (Français) (Maurice Bouchor)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "Voll Faden fünf", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Tuo padre giace a una profondità di cinque tese", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Andrea Maffei) , no title, first published 1869
- NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Arild Bakke) , "På fem favner", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SWE Swedish (Svenska) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)
1 omitted by Ives.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. There is a garden in her face  [sung text checked 1 time]
There is a garden in her face, Where roses and white lilies [grow]1; A heav'nly paradise is that place, Wherein all pleasant fruits do [flow]2. There cherries grow, which none may buy Till "Cherry ripe", themselves do cry. Those cherries fairly do enclose Of orient pearl a double row; Which when her lovely laughter shows, They look like rosebuds filled with snow. Yet them no peer nor prince [can]3 buy Till "Cherry ripe", themselves do cry. Her eyes like angels watch them still; Her brows like bended bows do stand, Threat'ning with piercing frowns to kill All that [attempt]4 with eye or hand [Those]5 sacred cherries to come nigh Till "Cherry ripe", themselves do cry.
Authorship:
- by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "There is a garden in her face"
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Als een tuin is haar gelaat", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Moeran: "blow"
2 Moeran: "grow"
3 Moeran: "may"
4 Ireland, Moeran: "approach"
5 Ireland, Moeran: "These"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. In praise of May  [sung text checked 1 time]
Now is the month of maying, When merry lads are playing, fa la, Each with his bonny lass Upon the greeny grass. Fa la. The Spring, clad all in gladness, Doth laugh at Winter's sadness, fa la, And to the bagpipe's sound The nymphs tread out their ground. Fa la Fie then! why sit we musing, Youth's sweet delight refusing? Fa la. Say dainty nymphs, and speak, Shall we play barley-break? Fa la.
Authorship:
- possibly by Thomas Morley (1557 - 1602), first published 1595 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Lofzang op Mei", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Javier Conte-Grand) , "Ya llegó el mes de celebraciones", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
4. In summer woods  [sung text checked 1 time]
How jubilant the summer sky, when turtle doves and cuckoos cry, And when in wild and leafy wood the song of nightingale is heard. We wander in the shady grove, and where red berries are we rove; The ousel pipes his music low and finches drum upon the bough. Beside the blackcap vine we stay on tender moss where shadows play And flitting by, the cuckoo's brood go babbling through the leafy wood.
Authorship:
- by James Vila Blake (1842 - 1925), first published c1880
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "In zomerse bossen", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
5. Aubade  [sung text checked 1 time]
It is time, O ye leaves, O ye leaves, on the treetops of morning! Laugh down the trees, that pastures may wake! It is time, O ye streams, O ye streams, on the hilltops of morning! Run down the hills, That the valleys may wake! It is time, O ye bells, O ye bells, in the grey spire of morning! Run down the spire, That the hamlet may wake!
Authorship:
- by Sydney Thompson Dobell (1824 - 1874), from Balder, scene 24, first published 1853
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Hulde", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
6. Evening song  [sung text checked 1 time]
I stood on the mountain side, while the sun was setting; Thrown o'er all the woods I saw evening's gold and netting. Clouds of heav'n above the field dewy hung, and weeping; Lull'd by eveningtolling bells gentle earth lay sleeping. Said I, "O my heart, be still", still with silent Nature And prepare thyself to rest with each earthborn creature. And the little blossoms then closed their eyes in slumber And the still brook sang to sleep wavelets, wavelets without number. Dewy larks sought joyfully low nests in the clover and in glens the stag and doe slept for day was over.
Authorship:
- by James Vila Blake (1842 - 1925), written 1898 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Abendlied", appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 4. Haus und Jahr, in 5. Fünfte Reihe. Sommer
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Avondlied", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
7. The echoing green  [sung text not yet checked]
The sun does arise, And make happy the skies; The merry bells ring To welcome the Spring; The skylark and thrush, The birds of the bush, Sing louder around To the bells' cheerful sound; While our sports shall be seen On the echoing green. Old John, with white hair, Does laugh away care, Sitting under the oak, Among the old folk. They laugh at our play, And soon they all say, "Such, such were the joys When we all--girls and boys - In our youth-time were seen On the echoing green." Till the little ones, weary, No more can be merry: The sun does descend, And our sports have an end. Round the laps of their mothers Many sisters and brothers, Like birds in their nest, Are ready for rest, And sport no more seen On the darkening green.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The echoing green", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 3, first published 1789
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Het weerkaatsend groen", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
8. May flowers  [sung text checked 1 time]
There is but one May in the year, And sometimes May is wet and cold; There is but one May in the year before the year grows old. Yet though it be the chilliest May With least of sun and most of show'rs, Its wind and dew, its night and day, Bring up the flow'rs.
Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), no title, appears in Sing-song: a nursery rhyme book, first published 1892
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Mei bloemen", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission