by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Be not afeard: the isle is full of...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices, That, if I then had wak'd after long sleep, Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me; that, when I wak'd, I cried to dream again.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act III, Scene 2 (Caliban) [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 George Benjamin (b. 1960), "Sometime voices", 1996 [ male voice and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Brian Dennis (b. 1941), "Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises", 1982, first performed 1983 [ medium voice and piano ], from 4 Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Francis Duggan (1817 - 1900), "Be not afear'd", published 1871 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marjorie Merryman , "Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises", 1978, published 1979, first performed 1978 [ soprano, clarinet, percussion, and violoncello ], from Ariel, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arne Nordheim (b. 1931), "Be not afeard", 1977, first performed 1977 [ soprano, baritone, celesta, harp, piano, and tape ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kaija Saariaho (1952 - 2023), "Caliban's Dream", 1992, published 2004? [ bass-baritone, clarinet, harp, guitar, mandolin, and contrabass ], from The Tempest Songbook, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Tim Souster , "Voices", 1964, published 1968, rev. 1965 [ SSATTBB chorus a cappella ], from Two Choruses [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998), "Caliban's Song", 1995, published 1995, copyright © 1995, first performed 1995 [ baritone and piano ], London: Schott [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot)
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Andrea Maffei) , no title, first published 1869
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-10
Line count: 9
Word count: 73