Ophelia's mad scene -
5th movement of the La folia variations
Download Ophelia’s mad scene (mp3)
LAERTES
. . . . .
O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.
OPHELIA
[Sings]
They bore him barefaced on the bier;
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny;
And in his grave rain'd many a tear:-
Fare you well, my dove!
LAERTES
Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge,
It could not move thus.
OPHELIA
[Sings]
You must sing a down a down,
An you call him a down a.
O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false
steward, that stole his master's daughter.
LAERTES
This nothing's more than matter.
OPHELIA
There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies. that's for thoughts.
LAERTES
A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted.
OPHELIA
There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue
for you; and here's some for me: we may call it
herb grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with
a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you
some violets, but they withered all when my father
died: they say he made a good end . . .
Sings
For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.
LAERTES
Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,
She turns to favour and to prettiness.
OPHELIA
[Sings]
And will he not come again?
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead:
Go to thy deathbed:
He never will come again.
His beard was as white as snow,
All flaxen was his poll:
He is gone, he is gone,
And we cast away moan:
God ha' mercy on his soul!
And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be wi' ye.
Exit
LAERTES
Do you see this, O God?
Musical details:
the mode starts in Phrygian (D minor but with lowered second).
When her brother Laertes refers to this "document in madness" the mode changes to Khamaj Theta (major with lowered seventh) as Ophelia begins temporarily to "lighten" in her mood.
After Ophelia sings "you must wear your rue with a difference" the mode changes to Kalyan Theta (major with raised fourth) and she becomes even more light headed.
The rhythms venture into dotted and Scotch snaps, which emphasise this temporary lightness.
But then she begins to ruminate on the question "will he not come again?" and the mode changes to Marva Theta (major but with flattened second and raised fourth), but the tonic is now a semitone higher than where she started.
The mode changes finally to the more familiar minor (Aeolian) at the end (D sharp minor) as she resigns herself to her fate.