Full fathom five (catchphrase)

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"Full fathom five" is a phrase deriving from a verse passage in The Tempest by William Shakespeare known as Ariel's Song. The spirit Ariel addresses Prince Ferdinand after a shipwreck to tell him about the supposed drowning of his father in water about 5 fathoms (30 feet; 9 metres) deep and the physical metamorphosis that follows.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell
Hark! Now I hear them – Ding-dong, bell.

— William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I, Sc. II

The phrase has been used at least 40 times (below) in English-language culture. At least four works have used a variation without "full":

  • Large portions
    • The poem was set to music by the American folk performer Pete Seeger,(along with another Shakespeare piece), using the title "Two from Shakespeare", The setting appears on his 1966 recording Dangerous Songs!?.
    • Martin Amis's quotation of most of "Full Fathom Five", in his novel The Pregnant Widow, is among its many Shakespeare references.
    • "The Fathom Five Matter" is a five-episode case in the radio serial Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar; it uses the poem in full in the first episode.
    • The stanza was set to music for the track "Full Fathom Five" on Marianne Faithfull's 1965 album Come My Way
    • "Full Fathom Five" is an episode from the first season of the TV series Hawaii Five-O; a character recites the poem in full (albeit with a couple of misquotations) during the episode.
    • May Sinclair's Mary Olivier: a life contains at Adolescence the first six lines of the song[1]
    • The stanza is quoted in, and provides the title for, the Doctor Who audio drama Full Fathom Five
    • Used in the Interlude ("The Investigator") between chapters three and four of "Cibola Burn" - book 4 of 'The Expanse' series by James S. A. Corey
    • Laurie Anderson's 1984 album Mister Heartbreak includes the track "Blue Lagoon", which contains the second stanza starting "Full fathom five thy father lies ..." but replaces the end line "Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell." with "And I alone am left to tell the tale. Call me Ishmael."
    • The whole of the stanza was also set for Unaccompanied Choir by Michael McDermott in 1999 as part of his "Festival of The Sea" Suite. The work was performed in that year's Mountbatten Festival of Music at The Royal Albert Hall, London by a choir made up from students at The Royal Marines School Of Music in Portsmouth, UK.
    • Opening lines in the French film .
    • The poem is quoted by a character in The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell.[2]
  • First clause
    • James Joyce's Ulysses contains the clause "Full fathom five thy father lies"
    • Stephen King uses the clause "Full fathom five my father lies" in The Tommyknockers, when protagonist James "Gard" Gardner sees a demonstration of a special typewriter.
    • John Cheever uses the clause "full fathom five my father lies" towards the end of the short story "Goodbye, My Brother".
    • Luke Rhinehart uses the clause "full fathom five my father lies" in The Dice Man, when side character Eric Cannon is asked by the protagonist if he wants to remain present during an interview with his parents that leads to Eric's commitment to a mental hospital.
    • Sting's song "Pirate's Bride" uses the modified clause "Full fathom five my true love lies".
    • The Streets' song "None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive" from the mixtape of the same name, uses the clause in the song's hook.
  • The phrase
    • "Full fathom five" is the opening line to the song "Anchor Me" by the New Zealand band The Mutton Birds, written by Don McGlashan
    • Full Fathom Five is the title of a 1947 painting by Jackson Pollock, containing dark blues that evoke the depths of the ocean.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is the title of the B-side to the Stone Roses' 1988 single "Elephant Stone".
    • Full Fathom Five is the title of a 1994 album by British band Sub Sub.
    • Full Fathom Five is the title of the 1965 book by John Stewart Carter which won the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award.
    • Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible refers to the poem' following the news of the death of patriarchal character Nathan Price.
    • Peter Hammill's song "A Headlong Stretch" (1994) includes the verse: "Uncharted waters, full fathom five".
    • Edgar Freemantle's psychologist in Stephen King's Duma Key sinks "full fathom five" into his sofa.
    • Gordon Comstock, protagonist of George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying, "was in the soup, full fathom five" (with reference to the loss of his job, and unravelling of his life).
    • "Full fathom five" are the opening spoken lyrics of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's song, "The Wreck of the 'Antoinette'".
    • The song "Another Night Out" by contains the lyrics "Drowning to die, down four fathom five."
    • The 1989 song "Marry Me (Lie, Lie)" by These Immortal Souls contains the lyrics "I don't think I'd take too kind to the cold, cold earth, down full fathom five"
    • George Orwell uses the phrase in both The Lion and the Unicorn and Keep the Aspidistra Flying .
    • The song "Big News I" by American rock band Clutch contains the line "She's sunk full fathom, five, five, five." A live album by the band is also called Full Fathom Five.
    • "Shake, Shudder, Shiver", a song from the Faces' album First Step, includes the lines "There's a man wants to show me the river / Full fathom five, I'll be more dead than alive"
    • "Full fathom five, my heart lies" is the opening line to The Mermaid's Lament, a choral piece by Joseph Martin and John Parker.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is a 1958 poem by Sylvia Plath.
    • The phrase "Full fathom five" appears in Nadine Gordimer's 1999 short story "Loot".
    • Full Fathom Five is a 2014 novel by Max Gladstone.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is the title of Episode 1, Season 1[3] of the original Hawaii Five-O.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is the title of Episode 21, Season 2 of Movin' On.
    • "Full fathom five, the Kid is alive!" is a line used in the song Tomahawk Kid by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is the title of a 2017 album by Scottish musician Simon J. Crawford.
    • "Full fathom five" is spoken by Ernie at the Lodge bar in Episode 3, Season 1 of the AMC television show, Lodge 49. It is also the title of the season 1 finale.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is the title of Episode 21 in the 1952 TV history series - Victory At Sea - The history of the U.S. Navy during World War II.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is the title of a song in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (2019) used in a zone fittingly named "The Tempest". The song is composed by Masayoshi Soken.
    • "Full Fathom Five" is used in the song "Talk to Me" by the band 60 Ft. Dolls.
    • Full Fathom Five is the title of a 2D art piece by Mark Wagner, the artist known for intricate collages made from deconstructed US dollars.
  • Part of the phrase

References[]

  1. ^ May Sinclair, Book Three: "Adolescence", chapter viii, p.111, Mary Olivier, The Macmillan Company, 1919
  2. ^ Littell, Jonathan (2010-03-02). The Kindly Ones. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-1-55199-364-5.
  3. ^ Benedict, Richard (1968-09-26), Full Fathom Five, retrieved 2016-10-26

See also[]

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