by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885)
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.
Text 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 (1952 - 2023), "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: 48
Dieci tese tuo padre s’affonda
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Dieci tese tuo padre s’affonda
Giù nel mare. Coralli son l’ossa,
Perle gli occhi: di lui non ha l’onda
Parte alcuna che strugger si possa.
Sangue e fibre gli muta in tesori
L’onda amara, e gl’intuonano l’inno
Della tomba le figlie di Dori.
Non ne ascolti il pietoso tintinno?
Tin! tin! tin!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Otello e La Tempesta di Guglielmo Shakespeare, Arminio e Dorotea di Wolfango Goethe, traduzioni di Andrea Maffei, Firenze, Successori Le Monnier, 1869, page 269.
Text Authorship:
- by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885), no title, first published 1869 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-09
Line count: 9
Word count: 52