Where should this music be? i' th' air or th' earth?
It sounds no more;--and sure it waits upon
Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wrack,
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion,
With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,--
Or it hath drawn me rather,--but 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

• by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2 (Ferdinand) [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 Brian Dennis (b. 1941), "Where should this music be?", 1982, first performed 1983 [ medium voice and piano ], from 4 Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Kaija Saariaho (1952 - 2023), "Ferdinand's Comfort", published 2004? [ soprano, baritone, and instrumental ensemble ], from The Tempest Songbook, no. 5
  • View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]
    

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Andrea Maffei) , no title, first published 1869

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-12-10
Line count: 9
Word count: 71