My thoughts hold mortal strife; I do detest my life, And with lamenting cries Peace to my soul to bring Oft call that prince which here doth monarchize: -- But he, grim grinning King, Who caitiffs scorns, and doth the blest surprise, Late having deck'd with beauty's rose his tomb, Disdains to crop a weed, and will not come.
Music to Hear (five Elizabethan Songs for soprano and piano)
Song Cycle by Robert Matthew-Walker (b. 1939)
1. Madrigal: My thoughts hold mortal strife  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585 - 1649), "Madrigal"
Go to the single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Take, O take those lips away  [sung text not yet checked]
Take, o take those lips away, That so sweetly [were]1 forsworn; And those eyes, the break of day, Lights [that]2 do mislead the morn: But my kisses bring again; Seals of love, [but]3 seal'd in vain, sealed in vain. Hide, o hide those hills of snow that thy frozen bosom wears, On whose tops the pinks that grow are yet of those that April wears; But first set my poor heart free, Bound in those icy chains by thee.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sarah L. Weller) , "Nimm, so nimm doch Deine Lippen fort", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Śpiew Pacholęcia", Warsaw, first published 1907
Note: quoted by John Fletcher, in Bloody Brother, 1639 and by William Shakespeare, in Measure for Measure, Act IV, scene 1, c1604 (just one stanza)
1 Bishop: "are"
2 Bishop: "which"
3 Bishop: "tho'"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. When icicles hang by the wall  [sung text not yet checked]
When icicles hang by the wall And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail; When blood is nipt and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who! Tu-whit! Tu-who! -- A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. When all aloud the wind doth blow, And coughing drowns the parson's saw, And birds sit brooding in the snow, And Marian's nose looks red and raw; When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who! Tu-whit! Tu-who! -- A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
4. Full fathom five  [sung text checked 1 time]
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.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
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]
5. Tell me where is fancy bred?  [sung text checked 1 time]
Tell me where is Fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourishèd? Reply, reply. It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed; and Fancy dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring Fancy's knell: I'll begin it, - Ding, dong, bell.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, written 1596, appears in The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Victor Hugo)
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Dimmi dove nasce amore", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission