Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
[...] these rebel powers array,
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.
About the headline (FAQ)
Note for line 2: some editions repeat the words "My sinful earth" at the beginning of this line; the original words have been lost.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 146 [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 CXLVI - Poor soul", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 24 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXLVI", 1864 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 146, first published 1857
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 110
Seele, du Drehpunkt meiner Sündenerde, Genarrt vom Aufruhr, der dich rings bedrängt, Was hungerst du da innen, trägst Beschwerde, Nur daß du außen prunkst, kostbar behängt? Warum vertust du bei so kurzer Pacht Auf die Behausung so viel Müh und Geld? Soll denn der Wurm, der Erbe dieser Pracht, Alles verzehren, wenn der Leib zerfällt? Nein, Seele, leb! Gib, was dir dient, zum Raub, So wird, was du verlierst, dein Ich bereichern; Tausch Ewigkeit für Stunden, die nur Staub: Reich sei du innen, nicht in Spind und Speichern! Nähr dich vom Tod! Von Menschen nährt sich er: Ist tot der Tod, so gibt’s kein Sterben mehr.
About the headline (FAQ)
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Confirmed with Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten Übersetzt von Richard Flatter, Walter Krieg Verlag, Wien-Bad Bocklet-Zürich, 1954, 2nd edition (1st edition 1936), page 96.
Text Authorship:
- by Richard Flatter (1891 - 1960), appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936 [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. 146
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: Volkmar Henschel
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 106