by
John Fletcher (1579 - 1625) and sometimes misattributed to
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Orpheus (Lucius's Song)
See originalLanguage: English
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 sprung; 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: 71
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Orpheus ließ mit seiner Laute
Baum und eis'ge Bergesspitzen
beugen sich, wenn er gesungen.
Auf seine Musik Pflanzen, Blumen
immer sprossen; wie Sonn' und Regen
dort ewigen Frühling schafften.
Alles, was ihn spielen hörte --
selbst Meereswogen
neigten die Kämme und glätteten sich.
Solche Kunst ist in Musik:
furchtbare Sorgen und Herzenskummer
schlafen ein oder: sterben im Hören.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
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This text was added to the website: 2007-08-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 58
