Ferry me across the water

"Ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"If you've a penny in your purse
I'll ferry you."

"I have a penny in my purse,
And my eyes are blue;
So ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do!"

"Step into my ferry-boat,
Be they black or blue,
And for the penny in your purse
I'll ferry you."

by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) , no title, from Sing-song: a nursery rhyme book, published 1872

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Allan Blank (1925-) , "The ferryman", published 1969 [voice, piano duet], from Escapades: Songs for Rote and Piano Duet
by Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) , "Ferry me across the water", published 1924. [two-part chorus of equal voices, piano]
by Shena Eleanor Fraser (1910-1993) , "The ferryman", published 1952. [unison voices, piano]
by Daron Aric Hagen (1961-) , "Ferry me across the water", 1984, first performed 1984 [voice and piano trio], from Three Silent Things, no. 3.
by Daron Aric Hagen (1961-) , "Ferry me across the water", 1983-2002, first performed 2002 [voice and piano], from Letting Go, no. 2.
by Marjorie Helyer , "The ferryman", published 1957. [unison voices, piano]
by Sidney Homer (1864-1953) , "Ferry me across the water", op. 23 (Two songs) no. 2, published 1912. [voice, piano]
by John Ireland (1879-1962) , "The ferry", published 1921. [unison voices, piano]
by John Basil Hugh Longmire (1902-1986) , "Ferry me across the water", published 1964. [unison voices, piano]
by David Lord (1944-) , "The ferryman", published 1965. [chorus (singing in unison or antiphonally), piano]
by Dorothy Parke , "The ferryman", published 1962. [unison voices with optional second part, piano]
by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878-1937) , "Ferry me across the water", published 1924. [voice, piano]
by Ned Rorem (1923-) , "Ferry me across the water", from The Nantucket Songs, no. 9.
by Beatrice Macgowan Scott , "Ferry me across the water", published 1934 [voices a cappella], from Introduction to Part Singing
by Sebastian Scott , "Ferry me across the water", published 1920. [unison voices, piano]
by Cecil Sharman , "Ferry me across the water", published 1936 [unison voices and piano], from Four Rossetti Poems, no. ?
by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875-1958) , "The ferryman", published 1917. [voice, piano]
by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) , "Ferry me across the water", published 1916 [voice, piano], from Kookoorookoo and other songs
by Felix Gerald Swinstead (1880-1959) , "The maid and the ferry", published 1907 [voice and piano], from Sing-Song Cycle, no. ?
by Eric Harding Thiman (1900-1975) , "The ferry", published 1928. [SS, piano]
by Joseph Wardale , "The ferryman", published 1956. [SS, piano]
by Philip George Wilkinson (1929-) , "The ferryman", published 1959. [unison children's voices, a cappella]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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