Come away, come away, death

[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;
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown:
[A thousand, [thousand]3 sighs to save,]4
Lay me, O where
[Sad]3 true lover never find my grave,
[To weep there!]5

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Twelfth Night, Act II, scene 4

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

by David Werner Amram (1930-) , "Come away death", from Five Shakespeare Songs, no. 1.
by Dominick Argento (1927-) , "Dirge", 1957, published 1970, from 6 Elizabethan Songs, no. 4.
by Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778) , "Come, away death", published 1741.
by Garth Baxter (1946-) , "Come away, come away, death" [voice and guitar], from Four Songs from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, no. 2.
by Benjamin James Dale (1885-1943) , "Come away, death"
by Madeleine Dring (1923-1977) , "Come away, death"
by John Edmunds (1913-1986) , "Come away, Death", 1936.
by Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) , "Come away, come away, death", op. 18 no. 1 (1939), from Let Us Garlands Bring, no. 1.
by Wolfgang Fortner (1907-1987) , "Death, come away", 1946, published 1947 [voice and piano], from Songs nach Texten von William Shakespeare mit Klavierbegleitung, no. 8.
by Lee Hoiby (1926-) , "Come away, Death", 1955 [voice and lute], from Songs of the Fool, no. 2.
by Erich Korngold (1897-1957) , "Come away, death", op. 29 no. 1, from Songs of the Clown, no. 1.
by Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988) , "Come away, death", from 5 Shakespeare Songs, no. 4, available from the Kenneth Leighton Trust, e-mail jo (DOT) leighton (AT) blueyonder (DOT) co (DOT) uk
by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) , "Come Away Death", from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 1.
by Douglas Stuart Moore (1893-1969) , "Come away, death"
by Roger Quilter (1877-1953) , "Come away, death", op. 6 no. 1, from Three Shakespeare Songs, no. 1.
by Henry Handel Richardson (1870-1946) [pseudonym] , "Come away death"
by Betty Roe (1930-) , "Come away, death", published 1974 [medium voice, flute, and piano], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 2.
by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) , "Come away Death", op. 65 no. 2, from The Clown's Songs from Twelfth Night, no. 2.
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "Come away, death", 1909.

by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855-1899) , "Chanson de Clown (Le Soir des Rois)", op. 28 no. 1, from Trois Chansons de Shakespeare, no. 1.

by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) , "Kom nu hit, död", op. 60 (Incidental Music from Trettondagsafton (Twelfth night)) no. 1 (1909) [canto, guitar or piano], from Incidental Music from Trettondagsafton (Twelfth night)
by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) , "Kom nu hit, död", 1957 [canto, harp, strings], from Incidental Music from Trettondagsafton (Twelfth night)

by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) , "Lied von Shakespeare", op. 17 no. 2 [women's chorus, two horns, harp], from Gesänge für Frauenchor, no. 2.
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", op. 16 no. 3 (1866-73). [soprano, bass, piano]
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", 1866. [soprano, bass, piano]
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", 1854. [soprano, alto]
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", 1847. [2 sopranos, piano]
by Friedrich Götzloff , "Aus Was ihr wollt'", c1809.
by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869) , "Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod", 1836, published 1899.
by Wilhelm Petersen (1890-1957) , "Komm herbei, Tod", op. 46 no. 2, from Lieder aus Shakespeare-Dramen, no. 2.

by Oscar Weil (1839?-1921) , "Komm herbei, Tod", op. 32 no. 2, published 1902, from Drei Lieder von Shakespeare, no. 2.

by Franz Wüllner (1832-1902) , "Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod"

by Harald Genzmer (1909-2007) , "Liebestod", 1990 [soprano, piano], from Sechs Lieder nach angelsächsischen Dichtern, no. 1.

by Arnold Mendelssohn (1855-1933) , "Komm herbei, Tod", published 1892-97.

by (Karl) Emil Kauffmann (1836-1909) , "Komm herbei, Tod", op. 17 (Zehn Lieder) no. 7, published 1884 [soprano or tenor and piano], Tübingen, Laupp

by Adolph Bernhard Marx (1795-1866) , "Aus was ihr wollt'", op. 2 no. 3, published 1830 [voice and piano], from Zwölf Gesänge, no. 3, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel

NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod

Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod,
Und versenk' in Cypressen den Leib;
Lass mich frei, lass mich frei, Not,
Mich [erschlägt]1 ein holdseliges Weib.
[ Mit Rosmarin mein Leichenhemd, 
O bestellt es! 
Ob Lieb' ans Herz mir tötlich kommt, 
Treu' hält es.]2

Keine Blum, keine Blum süß,
Sei gestreut auf den schwärzlichen Sarg;
[ Keine Seel', keine Seel' ]3 grüß
mein Gebein, wo die Erde es [verbarg.]4
[Um Ach und Weh zu wenden ab', 
bergt alleine
mich, wo kein Treuer wall' ans Grab
und weine.]5

by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767-1845)

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Twelfth Night, Act II, scene 4 NOR SWE FRE

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

by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) , "Lied von Shakespeare", op. 17 no. 2 [women's chorus, two horns, harp], from Gesänge für Frauenchor, no. 2.
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", op. 16 no. 3 (1866-73). [soprano, bass, piano]
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", 1866. [soprano, bass, piano]
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", 1854. [soprano, alto]
by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) , "Komm herbei, Tod", 1847. [2 sopranos, piano]
by Friedrich Götzloff , "Aus Was ihr wollt'", c1809.
by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869) , "Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod", 1836, published 1899.
by Wilhelm Petersen (1890-1957) , "Komm herbei, Tod", op. 46 no. 2, from Lieder aus Shakespeare-Dramen, no. 2.

ENG English (Robert Grady)
ITA Italian (Gianni Franceschi)

Date added to the website: 2003-12-07.