×
Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation © by Guy Laffaille
Full fathom five thy father lies
Language: English
Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: [Ding-dong.]1 Hark! now I hear them, - ding-dong bell.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Ives.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2 [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 Godfrey Edward Pellew Arkwright (1864 - 1944), "Full fathom five", published [1902?] [ low voice and piano ], from Nine Songs from Shakespeare, London, Joseph Williams [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederic Ayres (1876 - 1926), "Sea Dirge", op. 4 (2 Songs) no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Full fathom five", op. 19 no. ? (1954-64), published 1976 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespearean Songs, Lexington : Kelley [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Banister (c1625 - 1679), "Full fathom five" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Full fathom five", 1934 [ voice and piano ], from Six Shakespeare Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Barney Childs (1926 - 2000), "Full fathom five thy father lies ", 1958 [ soprano, tenor, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola, and piano ], from Septet for Voices (Soprano and Tenor) and Instruments, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Convery , "Full fathom five", 1982, published 1985, rev. 1983 [ SATB chorus a cappella (originally, SSA chorus a cappella) ], from Five Madrigals, New York : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
- by Brian Dennis (b. 1941), "Full fathom five", 1982, first performed 1983 [ medium voice and piano ], from 4 Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877 - 1950), "Full fathom five", 1898 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Full fathom five", op. 66 no. 6, published 1964 [ women's chorus, piano duet, and optional percussion ], from A Shakespeare Sequence, no. 6, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Steven R. Gerber (b. 1948), "Full fathom five", 1986 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Elegiac Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Daniel Gilliam (b. 1978), "Full fathom five", 2005 [ unaccompanied mixed chorus ], from Three Shakespeare Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "A sea dirge", 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Trevor Hold (1939 - 2004), "Full fathom five", 1976 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Something Rich and Strange, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "Full fathom five", 1908 [ duet for soprano and alto with piano ], from Eight songs for upper voices and piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Edward Ives (1874 - 1954), "A sea dirge", 1925, from Eleven Songs and Two Harmonizations, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Full fathom five" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Johnson (c1583 - 1633), "Full fathom five" [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "Full fathom five" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Purcell James Mansfield , "Full fathom five", op. 92 no. 2, published 1926, first performed 1953 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Full fathom five thy father lies", 1950, published 1968, first performed 1953 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Songs of Ariel from Shakespeare's Tempest, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Daniel Gregory Mason (1873 - 1953), "A sea dirge", published 1936, first performed 1953 [ medium voice or low voice and piano ], from Two Shakespearean Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Matthew-Walker (b. 1939), "Full fathom five", op. 40 no. 4 (1980) [ voice and piano ], from Music to Hear (five Elizabethan Songs for soprano and piano), no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Peter Anthony Monk , "Full fathom five", 1982, published 1982, first performed 1982 [ alto and SSAA chorus a cappella ], from Ariel's Five Little Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Nyman (b. 1944), "Full fathom five", 1992, published 1992 [ voice and piano ], from Ariel Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "A sea dirge", op. 21 no. 5, published 1873 [ chorus ], from A Garland of Shakesperian and Other Old-Fashioned Songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Full fathom five" [ voice and piano ], lost [sung text not yet checked]
- by Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971), "Full fathom five thy father lies", 1953, from Three Songs from William Shakespeare, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Joseph Summer , "Full fathom five thy father lies", in Oxford Songs, Book III no. 12. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998), "Full fathom five", from Songs for Ariel, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Full fathom five", 1951 [ chorus ], from Three Shakespeare Songs, no. 1, partsong [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "Full fathom five", 1891 [ chorus ], partsong [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952), "Ferdinand's Comfort", published 2004? [ soprano, baritone, and instrumental ensemble ], from The Tempest Songbook, no. 5
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Guy de Pourtalès (1881 - 1941) ; composed by Arthur Honegger.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929) ; composed by Ernest Amédée Chausson.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) , no title ; composed by Wilhelm Killmayer.
- Also set in Spanish (Español), adapted by Guillermo Macpherson (1824 - 1898) , no title ; composed by Rocío Sanz Quirós.
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Gösta Nystroem.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Vijf vadem diep", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy de Pourtalès)
- FRE French (Français) (Maurice Bouchor)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "Voll Faden fünf", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Tuo padre giace a una profondità di cinque tese", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Andrea Maffei) , no title, first published 1869
- NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Arild Bakke) , "På fem favner", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SWE Swedish (Svenska) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 49
Par cinq brasses, ton père gît
Language: French (Français) after the English
Par cinq brasses, ton père gît, De ses os le corail est fait ; Ce sont les perles qui étaient ses yeux : Rien de lui qui ne soit périssable, Mais subit le flot marin qui le transforme En quelque chose de riche et étrange. Les nymphes marines sonnent son glas chaque heure : Ding, dong ! Écoutez ! maintenant je les entends, ding, dong, dong !
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact:
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 9
Word count: 67