by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
This is the excellent foppery of the...
Language: English
This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, -- often the surfeitof our own behavior, -- we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars; as if we were villains by necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Edmund's speech", 2011 [baritone and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-12-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 91
C’est bien là l’excellente fatuité des...
Language: French (Français) after the English
C’est bien là l’excellente fatuité des hommes. Quand notre fortune est malade, souvent par suite des excès de notre propre conduite, nous faisons responsables de nos désastres le soleil, la lune et les étoiles : comme si nous étions scélérats par nécessité, imbéciles par compulsion céleste, fourbes, voleurs et traîtres par la prédominance des sphères, ivrognes, menteurs et adultères par obéissance forcée à l’influence planétaire, et coupables en tout par violence divine ! Admirable subterfuge de l’homme putassier : mettre ses instincts de bouc à la charge des étoiles !
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2016-06-14
Line count: 12
Word count: 86