White his shroud as the mountain snow, [Larded]1 with sweet [flowers]2; Which bewept to the [grave did go]3 With true-love [showers]4.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)These words are sung by Ophelia in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5, but they are probably not by Shakespeare.
1 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: "Larded all"2 White: "flow'rs"
3 Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Grill: "ground did not go"
4 White: "show'rs"
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, appears in Hamlet [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "White his shroud as the mountain snow", WoO posth. 22 no. 2 (1873), from Ophelia-Lieder, no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "White his shroud", copyright © 2005 [ soprano, harp and strings ], from Ophelia Songs, no. 3, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wolfgang Michael Rihm (b. 1952), "White his shroud as the mountain snow", from Ophelia Sings, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Ophelia's Song", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "How should I your true love know", op. 30 no. 3 (1933), published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs (Third Set), no. 3, London, Boosey
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Johannes Brahms.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Eduard Lassen.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Eduard Lassen.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
- Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- GER German (Deutsch) (Karl Joseph Simrock) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger)
- POL Polish (Polski) (Krystyn Ostrowski)
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-24
Line count: 4
Word count: 21
Son linceul blanc comme la neige des monts... Est tout garni de suaves fleurs. Il est allé au tombeau sans recevoir l'averse Des larmes de l'amour.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Hamlet and misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
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: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-24
Line count: 4
Word count: 26