Fear no more the heat o' the sun

[stillsparkling.livejournal.com]

from Cymbeline, Act IV, Scene 2



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, come to dust.

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.

Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.



Edit: The verses were set to music and sung by Loreena McKennitt. You can listen to it here.

Comments

[mswyrr]

This! Oh, this! It's up there with certain Psalms for words I want to carry on my body I love them so much.

The way that Shakespeare takes the mundane (wages, chimney-sweepers) and wraps it all around the central mystery of life is just... mindbogglingly brilliant. And, of course, there's the meter and the way it plays out on one's lips; I love reading his stuff aloud.

I recently read a fascinating post about whether Shakespeare meant us to imagine "the golden lads and girls are dandelions, and the chimney-sweepers their seed-heads" that, upon a blow, come to dust. It's possible that these were terms for the flowers in the area Shakespeare lived. But then: which Shakespeare? Since there's uncertainty about who he was. And the lineage of slang terms is often a difficult one to trace, since they're conceived on the wrong side of the blanket.

Loreena McKennit has a really cool sung version of it that I love, which you can hear on YouTube.

[stillsparkling.livejournal.com]

I'm glad my first post brought enjoyment. Actually, I came to these verses by Loreena McKennitt's sung version of them. (I wasn't sure if it is okay to include the link to her song on youtube.) I adore her, especially when she works with poetry. She offers this information in her liner notes for The Visit, the album containing the song: "Cymbeline: Here are William Shakespeare’s thoughts on this earthly visit. This song occurs toward the end of his romance Cymbeline, which was written near the end of the author’s life. The play is set in ancient Britain when the Romans were invading the last remaining outpost of the old Celtic order."

These words are so beautiful in their melancholy. I actually didn't attempt to interpret, I only relish their sound. It is for me a memento of mortality, and how the thought of everyone's mortality is pushed aside most times. Shakespeare teaches us humility, I think, while the first few lines can be seen as comforting. During this time of the year the verses often come to my mind.

[morriganviviane.livejournal.com]

I was about to point out Loreena's musical adaptation, but, seeing your icon, I think you already know about it.

[stillsparkling.livejournal.com]

Indeed I do. :-) I should probably edit the post with a link to the video. I just didn't know if it was allowed.

It is after all a beautiful companion piece.

[stillsparkling.livejournal.com]

You're most welcome!