by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
When in the chronicle of wasted time
Language: English
When in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rime, In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best, Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have express'd Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophecies Of this our time, all you prefiguring; And for they looked but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing: For we, which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 106 [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 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet CVI - When in the chronicles", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 20 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CVI", 1865 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Nikolay Vasilyevich Gerbel (1827 - 1883) , no title ; composed by Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 106, first published 1857
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 110
Lorsque, dans la chronique des temps...
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Lorsque, dans la chronique des temps évanouis, je vois la description des plus charmantes créatures, et les vieilles rimes que la beauté a inspirées en l'honneur de nobles dames et d'aimables chevaliers qui ne sont plus, Alors, dans l'esquisse où sont peintes les formes suprêmes de la beauté, la main, le pied, la lèvre, l'œil, le front, je sens que les maîtres anciens essayaient d'exprimer la beauté dont vous êtes aujourd'hui l'idéal. Ainsi, toutes leurs louanges ne sont que des prophéties de notre temps et des ébauches de vous. Et, comme ils ne vous voyaient qu'avec les yeux qui devinent, ils n'en savaient pas assez pour vous chanter dignement. Quant à nous, qui maintenant vous contemplons face à face, nous avons des yeux pour admirer, mais pas de langue pour louer.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 106, first published 1857 [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 Sonnets, no. 106
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 text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 131