GUIDERIUS
Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
[As chimney-sweepers,]1 come to dust.

ARVIRAGUS
Fear no more the frown o' the great;
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.

GUIDERIUS
Fear no more the lightning flash,

ARVIRAGUS
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;

GUIDERIUS
Fear not slander, censure rash;

ARVIRAGUS
Thou hast finish'd joy and moan:

GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS
[All]2 lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.

GUIDERIUS
No exorciser harm thee!

ARVIRAGUS
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!

GUIDERIUS
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!

ARVIRAGUS
Nothing ill come near thee!

GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS
Quiet consummation have;
And renowned be thy grave!

H. Pierson sets stanzas 1, 3-4
C. Parry sets stanzas 1-3

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Pierson: "Follow thee, and"
² omitted by Pierson.

Text Authorship:

• by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Cymbeline, Act IV, Scene 2 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Come to dust" [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespeare Songs, Book VIII, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Barney Childs (1926 - 2000), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun ", 1958 [ soprano, tenor, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola, and piano ], from Septet for Voices (Soprano and Tenor) and Instruments, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gordon Conrad Cyr (1925 - 2007), "Fear no more", 1961-2, first performed 1963 [ high voice and chamber orchestra ], from Three Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", op. 18 (Six Songs) no. 6, published 1905 [ voice and piano ], London : Sidney Riordan [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", op. 18 no. 3 (1929), from Let Us Garlands Bring, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "Fear no more", 1946, published 1947 [ voice and piano ], from Songs nach Texten von William Shakespeare mit Klavierbegleitung , no. 9, Mainz : Schott, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877 - 1950), "Fidele", alternate title: "Song out of Cymbeline", 1897, published 1908 [ voice and piano ], an orchestral version has been lost; composed as 'Song out of Cymbeline' but published in 1908 as 'Fidele' [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", op. 36 no. 4, published 1956 [ mixed chorus and piano duet or small orchestra ], from Seven Songs, no. 4, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Fear no more the heat o' th' sun", 2015, first performed 2016 [ counter-tenor and piano ], from O Mistress Mine -- 12 Songs for countertenor and piano on texts from plays by William Shakespeare, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "Fear no more", 1986 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Shakespeare Songs, London : Lengnick [sung text not yet checked]
• by Kenneth Leighton (1929 - 1988), "Fear no more the heat of the sun", from 5 Shakespeare Songs, no. 1, available from the Kenneth Leighton Trust, e-mail jo (DOT) leighton (AT) blueyonder (DOT) co (DOT) uk  [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", published 1905, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "Dirge: Fear no more the heat of the sun", stanzas 1,3-4, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", op. 23 no. 1 (1921), published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Five Shakespeare Songs (Second Set), no. 1, London, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", op. 132 (1947) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", op. 416 (1953) [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Fear No More The Heat Of The Sun", op. 554 (1959) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Dirge for Fidele", 1922 [ 2 mezzo-sopranos and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, adapted by William Hawkins (1722 - 1801) , written 1759 [an adaptation] ; composed by Thomas Augustine Arne.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) and by Johann Ludwig Tieck (1773 - 1853) ; composed by Henry Hugo Pierson.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Georg Mantey ; composed by Wolfgang Fortner.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , written c1845 ; composed by Alexander Zemlinsky.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
• FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "Canto fúnebre para fídula", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [an adaptation]

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 138