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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

There is a willow grows aslant a brook
Language: English 
Gertrude:
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 7 [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Ernest-Wilfrid Legouvé (1807 - 1903) [an adaptation] ; composed by Hector Berlioz, Pauline Duchambge, Charles Camille Saint-Saëns.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Adrien Dézamy (1844 - 1891) ; composed by Delphine Ugalde.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-13
Line count: 19
Word count: 137

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