by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625) and sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain-tops that freeze,
  Bow themselves, when he did sing:	
To his music, plants and flowers
Ever sprang; as sun and showers
  There had made a lasting spring.

Everything that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
  Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art:
Killing care and grief of heart
  Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.

Note: according to Miscellanies, Issues 3-4, published by the New Shakspere Society of Great Britain, "Shakspere wrote only 1168.5 of the 2822 lines of the play. The rest are Fletcher's." The song is part of the Fletcher portion of Henry VIII, and appears in Act III scene 1.

Composition:

    Set to music by Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964), "Orpheus (Lucius's Song)", 1937

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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


Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 70