by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie
Language: English
Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie, And young affection gapes to be his heir; That fair for which love groaned for and would die, With tender Juliet matched, is not now fair. Now Romeo is beloved and loves again, Alike bewitched by the charm of looks; But to his foe supposed he must complain, And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks. Being held a foe, he may not have access To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear, And she as much in love, her means much less To meet her new beloved anywhere; But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, Temp'ring extremities with extreme sweet.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, fourth Edition, London: Herringman, Brewster and Bentley, 1685. Appears in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Prologue, page 310.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Prologue [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alois Brandl (1855 - 1940) , no title ; composed by Boris Blacher.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ROM Romanian (Română) (Ștefan Octavian Iosif)
Researcher for this page: Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2019-09-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 114