About the headline (FAQ)

Note: this is often referred to as the Walsingham Ballad, and is quoted in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5. Ophelia is singing.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem An old song ended refers to this song.

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, appears in Hamlet [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
• sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Based on:

• a text in English possibly by Walter Raleigh, Sir (1552? - 1618)
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Kim Borg (1919 - 2000), "How should I your true-love know", op. 16 no. 1 (1974), published 1977, orchestrated 1981 [ soprano, flute, and viola ], from Ophelia Sings, no. 1, Copenhagen, Engstrøm & Sødring [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin C. S. Boyle , "Ophelia", op. 3, published 2001, first performed 2001 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "How should I your true love know", 1927, published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "How should I your true love know", copyright © 2005 [ soprano, harp and strings ], from Ophelia Songs, no. 1, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Natho Henn (1901 - 1958), "How should I your true love" [ voice and piano ], from Canções de Ofélia [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "How should I your true love know?" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Osvaldo Costa de Lacerda (1927 - 2011), "How should I your true love" [ voice and piano ], from Canções de Ofélia, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994), "Ophelia's song", 1926, published 1930 [ high voice and piano ], London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wolfgang Michael Rihm (1952 - 2024), no title, from Ophelia Sings, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

• by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), no title, WoO posth. 22 no. 1 (1873), from Ophelia-Lieder, no. 1, also set in German (Deutsch)
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• by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Ophelia's Song", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.
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• 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
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Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (1744 - 1816) , no title, appears in Dramatische Werke, in Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark. Ein Trauerspiel in sechs Aufzügen. Nach Shakesspear [sic] ; composed by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) , no title ; composed by Johannes Brahms, Eduard Lassen.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868 and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
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• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) , no title ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
• GER German (Deutsch) (Friedrich Ludwig Schröder) , no title, appears in Dramatische Werke, in Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark. Ein Trauerspiel in sechs Aufzügen. Nach Shakesspear [sic]
• GER German (Deutsch) (Karl Joseph Simrock) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868
• GER German (Deutsch) (Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet [an adaptation]
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , no title, copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Krystyn Ostrowski) , no title

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 20