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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author and sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

They bore him barefaced on the bier
Language: English 
Our translations:  HEB
They bore him barefaced on the bier;
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny;
And in his grave rain'd many a tear:--
[Fare you well, my dove!]1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

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

1 omitted by Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title, appears in Hamlet [author's text checked 1 time 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 Kim Borg (1919 - 2000), "They bore him barefaced on the bier ", op. 16 no. 3 (1974), published 1977, orchestrated 1981 [ soprano, flute, and viola ], from Ophelia Sings, no. 3, Copenhagen, Engstrøm & Sødring [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Cheryl Frances-Hoad (b. 1980), "They bore him barefaced on the bier" [ voice and piano ], from Two Shakespeare Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "The bore him bare faced on the bier", copyright © 2005 [ soprano, harp and strings ], from Ophelia Songs, no. 5, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]

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, first published 1868 and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) , no title ; composed by Johannes Brahms.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Eduard Lassen.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • 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.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) , no title ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Karl Joseph Simrock) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet
  • 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]
  • HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Hamutal Atariah) , copyright © 2024, (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: 2005-12-28
Line count: 4
Word count: 26

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