by Name
by Date
by Title
by First Line
by Last Line
Poet
Poem
Short poem
Keyword
Concordance

William Shakespeare (ca. 1564-1616)

Orpheus with his Lute Made Trees


              1Orpheus with his Lute made Trees,
              2And the Mountaine tops that freeze,
              3Bow themselues when he did sing.
              4To his Musicke, Plants and Flowers
              5Euer sprung; as Sunne and Showers,
              6There had made a lasting Spring.
              7Euery thing that heard him play,
              8Euen the Billowes of the Sea,
              9Hung their heads, & then lay by.
            10In sweet Musicke is such Art,
            11Killing care, & griefe of heart,
            12Fall asleepe, or hearing dye.

Notes

1] This song occurs in a scene commonly attributed to John Fletcher, and as it resembles his songs in style, it is frequently ascribed to him.
Queen Katherine of Aragon, wife to Henry VIII, asks one of her women attendants to sing with her lute. At song's end, Cardinals Wolsey and Campeius enter to urge Katherine to reconsider the King's demand for an annulment.


Online text copyright © 2012, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: William Shakespeare, "Henry VIII," Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, tragedies, & tragedies (London: Isaac Jaggard and Ed. Blount, 1623): 218 (Act III, scene 1). STC 22273. Facs. edn.: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902. F-10 356 Fisher Rare Book Library (Toronto). New York: Norton, 1968. PR 2751 A15 1968 Robarts Library
First publication date: 1623
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP.1.231; re-edited RPO 1996-2000.
Recent editing: 2:2002/3/28

Composition date: 1612 - 1613
Rhyme: aabccbddeffe


Other poems by William Shakespeare