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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo (1856 - 1912)

The quality of mercy is not strained
Language: English 
The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. [Therefore, Jew, 
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation:]1 we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. [I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.]1

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   L. Hoiby 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Hoiby.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "Portia's Plea", 2004 [ voice and piano ], from Sonnets and Soliloquies, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Paszkowski) , no title
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo) , no title


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-14
Line count: 22
Word count: 175

La clemencia no quiere fuerza
Language: Spanish (Español)  after the English 
La clemencia no quiere fuerza: 
es como la plácida lluvia del cielo 
que cae sobre un campo y le fecunda: 
dos veces bendita porque consuela 
al que la da y al que la recibe. 
Ejerce su mayor poder entre los grandes: 
el signo de su autoridad en la tierra es el cetro, 
rayo de los monarcas. Pero aún vence al cetro la clemencia, 
que vive, como en su trono, en el alma de los reyes. 
La clemencia es atributo divino, 
y el poder humano se acerca al de Dios, 
cuando modera con la piedad la justicia. 
Hebreo, ya que pides no más que justicia, 
piensa que si sólo justicia hubiera, 
no se salvaria ninguno de nosotros. 
Todos los dias, en la oracion, pedimos clemencia, 
pero la misma oración nos enseña á perdonar 
como deseamos que nos perdonen. 
Te digo esto, sólo para moverte á compasión, 
porque como insistas en tu demanda, 
no habrá más remedio, con arreglo á las leyes de Venecia, 
que sentenciar el pleito en favor tuyo y contra Antonio.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo (1856 - 1912), 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 The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1
    • Go to the text page.

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: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-05-07
Line count: 22
Word count: 172

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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