by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Look how the floor of heaven
Language: English
Look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold: There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins; Such harmony is in immortal souls; But whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene 1 [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 Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "Look how the floor of Heaven", from Three 17th Century Lyrics, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Virgil Garnett Thomson (1896 - 1989), "Look, how the floor of heaven", published 1963 [ voice and piano ], H. W. Gray [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-09
Line count: 8
Word count: 58