Full fathom five (catchphrase)
"Full fathom five" is a catchphrase deriving from a verse passage, beginning with those words, in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Its original context, during a storm and shipwreck.
| “ | Full fathom five thy father lies; |
” | |
| — William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I, Sc. II | |||
This three-word phrase has been repeatedly used in English-language culture, alone or in the context of larger parts or the whole of the passage, or referred to via abridgements of it, over the four centuries since its composition.
- Large portions
- The whole of the stanza was set for choir by Ralph Vaughan Williams as one of his Three Shakespeare 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.
- May Sinclair's Mary Olivier: a life contains (in Book Three "Adolescence", chapter viii) the first six lines of the song[1]
- Much of the poem itself, including "Full fathom five" is used in the song "Blue Lagoon" by Laurie Anderson
- 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 The Royal Albert Hall, London by a choir made up from students at The Royal Marines School Of Music in Portsmouth, UK.
- 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".
- The phrase
- Sting's song "Pirate's Bride" uses the phrase in the line, "Full fathom five my true love lies."
- "Full fathom five" is the opening line to the song "Anchor Me" by The Mutton Birds.
- 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.
- Edgar Freemantle's psychologist in Stephen King's Duma Key sinks "full fathom five" into his sofa.
- Protagonist, Gordon Comstock, 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 "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.
- 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[2] of the original Hawaii Five-0 (1968).
- Part of the phrase
- Fathom Five is a 1990 novel by Robert Westall, a sequel to his 1975 young adult novel The Machine Gunners .
- "Five Fathoms", a 1999 song by Everything but the Girl
- The boat at the center of the five-episode case "The Fathom Five Matter", in Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, is named the Fathom Five.
- Fathom Five National Marine Park is a largely underwater national park in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada.
References
- ↑ May Sinclair, p.111, Mary Olivier, The Macmillan Company, 1919
- ↑ Benedict, Richard (1968-09-26), Full Fathom Five, retrieved 2016-10-26
See also
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