Lawn as white as driven snow; Cyprus black as e'er was crow; Gloves as sweet as damask roses; Masks for faces and for noses; Bugle bracelet, necklace amber, Perfume for a lady's chamber; Golden quoifs and stomachers, For my lads to give their dears: Pins and poking-sticks of steel, What maids lack from head to heel: Come buy of me, come; come buy, come buy; Buy lads, or else your lasses cry: Come buy.
O Mistress Mine -- 12 Songs for countertenor and piano on texts from plays by William Shakespeare
Song Cycle by Juliana Hall (b. 1958)
1. Lawn as white as driven snow [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 4, Autolycus's song.
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
Lawn as white as driven snow, White as snow, driven snow; Cyprus black as e'er was crow, Black as e’er was crow: Come buy of me, come, buy. Gloves as sweet as damask roses, Sweet as damask roses, Masks for faces and for noses, And for noses; Come lads, buy of me, come, buy. Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle. Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle. Bugle bracelet, necklace amber, Bracelet, necklace amber; Perfume for a lady's chamber, For a lady’s chamber; Come buy of me, come, buy. Golden quoifs and stomachers, For my lads to give their dears; Pins and poking-sticks of steel, What maids lack from head to heel. Come, lads, buy, lads; Come, lads, buy, lads; Buy, or else your lasses cry. Come, buy, buy, buy, buy.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. O happy fair! [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
O happy fair! Your eyes are lode-stars and your tongue's sweet air More tuneable to lark than shepherd’s ear, When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Midsummer Night's Dream, Act I, Scene 1
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Researcher for this page: David Sims [Guest Editor]3. If love make me forsworn [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love? Ah, never faith could hold, if not to beauty vow'd! Though to myself forsworn, to thee I'll faithful prove; Those thoughts to me were oaks, to thee like osiers bow'd. Study his bias leaves, and makes his book thine eyes, Where all those pleasures live that art would comprehend. If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice; Well learned is that tongue that well can thee commend; All ignorant that soul that sees thee without wonder; Which is to me some praise, that I thy parts admire. Thy eye Jove's lightning bears, thy voice his dreadful thunder, Which, not to anger bent, is music and sweet fire. Celestial as thou art, O pardon, love, this wrong, That sings heaven's praise with such an earthly tongue.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act IV, Scene 2
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Researcher for this page: David Sims [Guest Editor]4. Who is Silvia? [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Who is Silvia? what is she? That all our Swaines commend her? Holy, faire, and wise is she. The heavens such grace did lend her, That she might admired be. Is she kinde as she is faire? For beauty lives with kindnesse: Love doth to her eyes repaire, To helpe him of his blindnesse: And being help'd, inhabits there. Then to Silvia, let us sing, That Silvia is excelling; She excels each mortall thing Upon the dull earth dwelling. To her let us Garlands bring.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Song", appears in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Kuka on Silvia?", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À Silvia", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Carlo Rusconi) , first published 1859
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , "¿Quién es Silvia?", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies. London. Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount. 1623 (Facsimile from the First Folio Edition, London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1876), page 33 of the Comedies.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
5. O, mistress mine [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear, your true love's coming That can sing both high and low. [Trip]1 no [further]2, pretty sweeting; [Journeys]3 end in lovers' meeting, Ev'ry wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'Tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure: [In]4 delay there lies no plenty; Then [come kiss]5 me, sweet and twenty; Youth's a stuff will not endure.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, Scene 3
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "O Fräulein meins! Woher du wanderst", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "O mia signora", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Komierowski) , no title [an adaptation]
1 Korngold: "O trip"
2 [sic] ; and Hall: "farther"
3 Korngold: "For journeyes"
4 Korngold: "And in"
5 Korngold: "come and kiss"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
6. If music be the food of love [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
[ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act I, Scene 1, Orsino's lines, first published 1601
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
7. Take, o take those lips away [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Take, o take those lips away,
That so sweetly [were]1 forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights [that]2 do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again;
Seals of love, [but]3 seal'd in vain, sealed in vain.
[ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sarah L. Weller) , "Nimm, so nimm doch Deine Lippen fort", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Śpiew Pacholęcia", Warsaw, first published 1907
Note: quoted by John Fletcher, in Bloody Brother, 1639 and by William Shakespeare, in Measure for Measure, Act IV, scene 1, c1604 (just one stanza)
1 Bishop: "are"
2 Bishop: "which"
3 Bishop: "tho'"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
8. Tell me where is Fancy bred [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Tell me where is Fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourishèd? Reply, reply. It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed; and Fancy dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring Fancy's knell: I'll begin it, - Ding, dong, bell.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, written 1596, appears in The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Victor Hugo)
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Dimmi dove nasce amore", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
9. Come away, come away, death [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
[Come away, come away, death]1, And in sad cypress let me be laid; Fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, [O prepare it!]2 My part of death, no one so true Did share it. Not a flower, not a flower sweet, On my black coffin let there be [strown]3; Not a friend, not a friend greet My poor corpse, where my bones shall be [thrown]4: [A thousand, thousand sighs to save,]5 Lay me, O where [Sad true]6 lover never find my grave, [To weep there!]7
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, scene 4
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Jan Jonk) , "Kom toch gauw, kom toch gauw, dood", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Vieni, o morte", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Kom hit, kom nå hit, død", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Komierowski) , no title
1 Fortner: "Death, come away, come away"
2 Dring: "Come prepare it"
3 Leguerney: "thrown"; Wilkinson: "strewn"
4 Leguerney: "strown"
5 Korngold: "A thousand sighs to save,"; omitted by Argento.
6 Korngold: "True"
7 Amram: "did share it." [mistake?]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
10. This is a very scurvy tune to sing [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Stephano [I shall no more to sea, to sea, Here shall I die ashore --]1 [This is a very scurvy tune to sing at a man's funeral: well, here's my comfort.]2 (Drinks) (Sings) The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I, The gunner and his mate Loved Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery, But none of us cared for Kate; For she had a tongue with a tang, Would cry to a sailor, 'Go hang!' She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch, Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch: Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang! [This is a scurvy tune too: but here's my comfort.]2
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act II, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Andrea Maffei) , no title, first published 1869
1 Omitted by Bachlund and Hall.
2 Omitted by Bachlund.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
11. Blow, blow, thou winter wind [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Blow, blow thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind As [man's]1 ingratitude; Thy tooth is not so keen [Because]2 thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude. [ Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Then, heigh ho! the holly! This life is most jolly.]3 Freeze, freeze thou [bitter]4 sky, [Thou dost]5 not bite so [nigh]6 As benefits forgot: Though thou the waters warp, Thy sting is not so sharp As [friend]7 remember'd not. [ Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Then, heigh ho! the holly! This life is most jolly.]3
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "Stürm, stürm du Winterwind!", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Soffia, soffia vento invernale", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Soffia, soffia, vento d'inverno", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Note: In Steele's score, "Heigh" is spelled "Hey"
1 Arne: "men's"
2 Parry: "Although"
3 not set by Arne.
4 Fortner: "winter"
5 Clearfield, Holman: "That does"; Bridge: "That dost"
6 Korngold: "high"
7 Clearfield: "a friend"; Steele: "friends"
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
12. Fear no more the heat o' th' sun [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
GUIDERIUS Fear no more the heat o' the sun, Nor the furious winter's rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, [As chimney-sweepers,]1 come to dust. ARVIRAGUS Fear no more the frown o' the great; Thou art past the tyrant's stroke; Care no more to clothe and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak: The sceptre, learning, physic, must All follow this, and come to dust. GUIDERIUS Fear no more the lightning flash, ARVIRAGUS Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone; GUIDERIUS Fear not slander, censure rash; ARVIRAGUS Thou hast finish'd joy and moan: GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS [All]2 lovers young, all lovers must Consign to thee, and come to dust. GUIDERIUS No exorciser harm thee! ARVIRAGUS Nor no witchcraft charm thee! GUIDERIUS Ghost unlaid forbear thee! ARVIRAGUS Nothing ill come near thee! GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS Quiet consummation have; And renowned be thy grave!
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Cymbeline, Act IV, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "Canto fúnebre para fídula", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [an adaptation]
1 Pierson: "Follow thee, and"
2 ommitted by Pierson.
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
Total word count: 1107