They that have power to hurt, and will...
Language: English
They that have power to hurt, and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow;
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces,
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others, but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself, it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.
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Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by James Henry Baseden Butt (b. 1929), "They that have power", 1950, published 1958, first performed 1951 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Pastorale, London, Hinrichsen [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet XCIV - They that have power", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 2 no. 1 (1944-5) [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XCIV", 1865 [ medium voice or high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Sonet 94", op. 78 no. 2, published 1904 [ tenor and piano ], from 5 Sonnette von William Shakespeare, no. 2, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 106
Quelli che, pur avendo il potere di...
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Quelli che, pur avendo il potere di offendere, non lo fanno
e non usano quello che in loro più evidente appare,
che, pur turbando gli altri, come pietra stanno,
freddi, impassibili, senza farsi tentare;
giustamente ereditano del cielo i favori
e, attenti a non sprecare della Natura i doni,
del loro aspetto sono padroni e signori,
mentre gli altri delle loro virtù sono solo guardiani.
Un fiore estivo l’estate addolcisce
anche se vive e poi muore per sé soltanto,
ma se quel fiore una vile contagio patisce,
l’erba più vile sembrerà più valente a confronto.
Perché ogni cosa più dolce può diventare più aspra nei fatti,
e i gigli più profumati più delle erbacce puzzano se putrefatti
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Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2025 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 117
