by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
The cloud‑capp'd towers, the gorgeous...
Language: English
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act IV, Scene 1 (Prospero) [author's text not yet checked 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 Michael Ostrzyga (b. 1975), "Our little life is rounded with a sleep", 2007 [ chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The cloud-capp'd towers", 1951 [ chorus ], from Three Shakespeare Songs, no. 2, partsong [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Le torri che toccano le nubi", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 7
Word count: 49