You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blindworms, do no wrong,
Come not near our Fairy Queen.
Philomel, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, [lullaby:]1
Never harm,
Nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.
Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence.
Philomel, with melody,
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, [lullaby:]2
Never harm,
Nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.
M. Blitzstein sets lines 7-11, 1-4, 12-18
E. Křenek sets lines 1-7, 12-13, 8-11
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Křenek: "lullaby."
2 Blitzstein: "lullaby./ Lullaby."
Text Authorship:
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), "Lullaby", 1986 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 3, C. F. Peters [sung text not yet checked]
- by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Fairy lullaby", op. 37 (Three Shakespeare Songs) no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964), "Lullaby", published 1958, lines 7-11,1-4,12-18 [ low voice, piano ], from Six Elizabethan Songs, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (1885 - 1963), "Philomel" [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "You spotted snakes" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernst Křenek (1900 - 1991), "Fairies' song", lines 1-7,12-13,8-11 [ chorus ], from Three Madrigals, no. 1, madrigal [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 106
Slangen zwijg met je gespleten tong
Egels ga er stil vandoor
Salamander en worm ga voort
de koningin mag niet gestoord:
Philomel, melodietje,
zing ons lieve slaapliedje.
wiege, wiege, wiegelied.
Doe nooit zeer,
noch bezweer
Onze Vrouwe teer;
Welterusten, met 'n liedje.
Spin in 't web, kom niet hier;
Weg, jullie langpot'ge spinnen, weg!
