The songâs tune was sprightly; its words otherwise:
âFear no more the heat oâ the sun,
Nor the furious winterâs rages;
Thou thy worldly task hath done,
Home art gone and taâen thy wages.
[âŚ]
Fear no more the frown oâ the great;
Thou art past the tyrantâs stroke;
Care no more to clothe or eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The scepter, learning, physic, must
All follow thee, and come to dust.â
[âŚ]
Matthew sang, âFear no more the lightning-flash,â but Laura only half-heard him.
[âŚ]
Randolph was singing now, in a voice lighter than Matthewâs, and one that sounded somehow less trained, but was very clear.
âNot the all-dreaded thunder-stone.â
âFear not slander,â said Matthew, âcensure rash.â
âThou has finished joy and moan.â Randolphâs voice faltered a very little; perhaps he had been out of breath from his playing.
Laura looked at Ted again. He was staring at Randolph as if he expected him to begin doing cartwheels.
The next lines Matthew and Randolph sang together, as Lauraâs mother and father did, as though they were used to it:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
Laura wondered where Ruth was; Ruth, whose lover Randolph was supposed to be, except that Randolph had seemed to prefer Claudia.
Then Matthew, âNo exorcisor harm thee.â
And Randolph, âNor no witchcraft charm thee,â and his voice cracked on the word âwitchcraftâ and barely recovered for the end of the line.
Matthew, his face anxious, went on, âGhost unlaid forbear thee,â and Fenceâs voice rose and mingled with his.
âFor the love of heaven, Matthew, something cheerier.â
Chapter 10, The Hidden Land
Matthew and Randolph are singing a song sung by Guiderius and Arviragus in Shakespeareâs Cymbeline, Act IV Scene 2:
Guiderius. 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.
Arviragus. 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.
Guiderius. Fear no more the lightning flash,
Arviragus. Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Guiderius. Fear not slander, censure rash;
Arviragus. Thou hast finish'd joy and moan:
Guiderius. [with Arviragus] All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
Guiderius. No exorciser harm thee!
Arviragus. Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Guiderius. Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Arviragus. Nothing ill come near thee!
Guiderius. [with Arviragus] Quiet consummation have;
And renowned be thy grave!
The song is one of mourning and is sung while waiting for the dead body of Cloten to be brought forth and set to rest. As Fence points out, it is not a particularly cheery song to start with, and as Laura and Ellen note later, the lyrics have an eerie second meaning when sung by Randolph, who poisoned his liege lord with a bespelled poison.
