To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes, And dupp'd the chamber-door; Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more. Indeed, without an oath, I'll make an end on't! By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack, and fie for shame! Young men will do't, if they come to't; By cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.
J. Brahms sets stanza 1
R. Quilter sets lines 1-4
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesThese words are sung by Ophelia in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5, but they are probably not by Shakespeare.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, appears in Hamlet [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-26
Line count: 17
Word count: 111
Guten Morgen, 's ist Sankt Valentinstag, So früh vor Sonnenschein Ich junge Maid am Fensterschlag Will euer Valentin sein. Der junge Mann thät Hosen an, That auf die Kammerthür, Ließ ein die Maid, die als 'ne Maid Ging nimmermehr herfür. Bei Sanct Niklas und Charitas! Ein unverschämt Geschlecht! Ein junger Mann thut's, wenn er kann, Fürwahr, das ist nicht recht. Sie sprach: Eh' ihr gescherzt mit mir, Verspracht ihr mich zu frei'n. Ich bräch's auch nicht, bei'm Sonnenlicht, Wär'st du nicht kommen herein.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark, übersetzt von Karl Simrock, in: William Shakspear’s[sic] sämmtliche dramatische Werke in neuen Uebersetzungen, Leipzig: Georg Wigand’s Verlag, [no year], page 686
Note: according to The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss, ed. by Charles Youmans, Seeger is listed as the translator of Hamlet, but Seeger's translations are quite different. Simrock and Seeger are listed together as the translators for the ten-volume set.
Note (provided by Sharon Krebs): Ophelia’s song is interrupted at several points by various other characters and herself. Those interruptions have not been included above.
Text Authorship:
- by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876), no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864)
Based on:
- a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Hamlet and misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Go to the general view
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 87