And will he not come again? And will he not come again? No, no, he is dead: Go to thy death-bed: He never will come again. His beard was as white as snow, All flaxen was his poll: He is gone, [he is gone,]1 And we [cast away moan]2: God [ha']3 mercy on his soul! [And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be wi' ye.]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 omitted by White.2 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: "moan as we're cast away"
3 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: "have"
4 omitted by White; Castelnuovo-Tedesco; Grill: "And on the souls of all good Christians, I pray God. God be with you."
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, appears in Hamlet [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Hamlet [author's text not yet checked 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 David Werner Amram (b. 1930), "Ophelia's song ", 1986 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 4, C. F. Peters [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "And will he not come again", copyright © 2005 [ soprano, harp and strings ], from Ophelia Songs, no. 6, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Osvaldo Costa de Lacerda (1927 - 2011), "And will he not come again?" [ voice and piano ], from Canções de Ofélia, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
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.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- 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 Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868 and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet
- GER German (Deutsch) (Karl Joseph Simrock) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2010-07-11
Line count: 11
Word count: 67
Und kommt er nicht mehr zurück? Und kommt er nicht mehr zurück? Nein, nein, er ist todt! So ruh denn in Gott! Er kommt nie mehr zurück. Sein Bart war so weiß wie Schnee, Sein Haar wie Flachs so fein, Er ist hin, er ist hin, Und Trauer ist kein Gewinn: Gott mag seiner Seele gnädig sein. Und allen Christenseelen! Ich bitte Gott darum! Gott sei mit euch!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with L. Seeger, Hamlet, in: Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, Siebenter Band, Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, [1867-68], pages 149-151
Authorship:
- by Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864), no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Hamlet and possibly by 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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Research team for this page: Bertram Kottmann , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-24
Line count: 11
Word count: 69