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"Ferry me across the water, Do, boatman, do." "If you've a penny in your purse I'll ferry you." "I have a penny in my purse, And my eyes are blue; So ferry me across the water, Do, boatman, do!" "Step into my ferry-boat, Be they black or blue, And for the penny in your purse I'll ferry you."
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), no title, appears in Sing-song: a nursery rhyme book, first published 1872 [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 Allan Blank (b. 1925), "The ferryman", published 1969 [ voice, piano duet ], from Escapades: Songs for Rote and Piano Duet [sung text not yet checked]
- by Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "Ferry me across the water ", 2013, published 2013 [ 2-part chorus and piano ], Houston, Alliance Music [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Ferry me across the water", published 1924 [ 2-part chorus of equal voices, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Shena Eleanor Fraser (1910 - 1993), "The ferryman", published 1952 [ unison chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961), "Ferry me across the water ", 1984, first performed 1984 [ voice and piano trio ], from Three Silent Things, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961), "Ferry me across the water", 1983-2002, first performed 2002 [ voice and piano ], from Letting Go, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marjorie Helyer , "The ferryman", published 1957 [ unison chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sidney Homer (1864 - 1953), "Ferry me across the water", op. 23 (Two songs) no. 2, published 1912 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "The ferry", 1921, published 1921 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Basil Hugh Longmire (1902 - 1986), "Ferry me across the water", published 1964 [ unison chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Lord (b. 1944), "The ferryman", published 1965 [ chorus (singing in unison or antiphonally), piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dorothy Parke , "The ferryman", published 1962 [ unison chorus with optional second part, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "Ferry me across the water", published 1924 [ voice, piano ], J. B. Cramer & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Ferry me across the water", from The Nantucket Songs, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Beatrice Macgowan Scott , "Ferry me across the water", published 1934 [ chorus a cappella ], from the collection Introduction to Part Singing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sebastian Scott , "Ferry me across the water", published 1920 [ unison chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Sharman (1894 - ?), "Ferry me across the water", published 1936 [ unison chorus and piano ], from Four Rossetti Poems [sung text not yet checked]
- by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875 - 1958), "The ferryman", published 1917 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Ferry me across the water", published 1916 [ voice and piano ], from Kookoorookoo and other songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix Gerald Swinstead (1880 - 1959), "The maid and the ferry", published 1907 [ voice and piano ], from Sing-Song Cycle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eric Harding Thiman (1900 - 1975), "The ferry", published 1928 [ SS chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Wardale , "The ferryman", published 1956 [ SS chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philip George Wilkinson (b. 1929), "The ferryman", published 1959 [ unison children's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 58
"Fährmann setz mich übers Wasser, drum bitt ich dich." "Hast du 'nen Pfennig in der Tasch, dann fahr ich dich." "Ich hab 'nen Pfennig in der Tasch und Äuglein blau; dass du mich übers Wasser setzt, darauf ich trau!" "Seien sie schwarz, seien sie blau, was kümmert's mich, doch für den Pfennig in der Tasch, da fahr ich dich."
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann.  Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), no title, appears in Sing-song: a nursery rhyme book, first published 1872
This text was added to the website: 2013-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 59