by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Ophelia
Language: English
How should I your true love know From another one? By his cockle hat and staff, And his sandal shoon. ***** He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone, At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone. ***** White his shroud as the mountain snow— Larded all with sweet flowers, Which bewept to the ground did go With true-love showers. ***** Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be. ***** Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose and donned his clo’es And dupp’d the chamber door; Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more. Quoth she, “Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed.” “So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.” We must be patient; but I cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him i’ the cold ground. ***** They bore him barefac’d on the bier, Hey no nonny, nonny, hey nonny. And on his grave rain’d many a tear, Down, a-down, an you call him a-down-a. ***** His beard was as white as snow, All flaxen was his poll. He is gone, he is gone, And we cast away moan, God ha' mercy on his soul! ***** There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance… And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts… There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.
Text Authorship:
- 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 Carol Barnett , "Ophelia", copyright © 2020, first performed 2022 [ mezzo-soprano and orchestra ], from Will’s Ladies, no. 4
Score: Beady Eyes Publishing [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-02-18
Line count: 47
Word count: 262