He is dead and gone, lady,
He is dead and gone;
At his head a grass green turf,
At his heels a stone.1

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These words are sung by Ophelia in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5, but they are probably not by Shakespeare.

Quoted in Rhian Samuel's The Gaze.

¹ Rihm adds "Oho! Oho! Nay, but ... mark"

Text 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 (1952 - 2024), no title, from Ophelia Sings, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), no title, WoO posth. 22 no. 1 (1873), from Ophelia-Lieder, no. 1, also set in German (Deutsch)
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• by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Ophelia's Song", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    
• 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
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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.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Johannes Brahms.
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• 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.
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• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) , no title ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
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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