White his shroud as the mountain snow, [Larded]1 with sweet [flowers]2; Which bewept to the [grave did go]3 With true-love [showers]4.
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 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: "Larded all"2 White: "flow'rs"
3 Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Grill: "ground did not go"
4 White: "show'rs"
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)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "White his shroud as the mountain snow", WoO posth. 22 no. 2 (1873), from Ophelia-Lieder, no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "White his shroud", copyright © 2005 [ soprano, harp and strings ], from Ophelia Songs, no. 3, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wolfgang Michael Rihm (b. 1952), "White his shroud as the mountain snow", from Ophelia Sings, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Ophelia's Song", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.
- 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
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Johannes Brahms.
- 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.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Eduard Lassen.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
- Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
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)
- POL Polish (Polski) (Krystyn Ostrowski)
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-24
Line count: 4
Word count: 21
Sein Leichenhemd weiß wie Schnee zu sehn, Geziert mit Blumensegen, Das still betränt zum Grab mußt gehn Von Liebesregen.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Hamlet and 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Sein Leichenhemd weiß wie Schnee zu sehn", WoO posth. 22 no. 2 (1873), from Ophelia-Lieder, no. 2, also set in English [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Son linceul que l'on voit blanc comme la neige", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-26
Line count: 4
Word count: 19