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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)
Text 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
- 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
Quando nelle cronache di un tempo ormai remoto incontro descrizioni delle più belle creature che pure alle antiche rime bellezza hanno dato, di nobili cavalieri e dame defunte lodando il valore, allora, sotto lo stemma della più grande bellezza di labbra, occhi, fronte, mani, piedi comprendo che quella antica penna voleva dare contezza proprio di quella bellezza che oggi tu possiedi. Così tutte quelle lodi non sono che presagi di quelle lodi che tu stesso meriti ora; ma poiché non guardavano che con occhi divinanti, non bastava il talento a esaltare tutto il tuo valore: Mentre noi, cui è toccato il presente osservare, abbiamo solo occhi per ammirare, ma non lingua abile a lodare.
About the headline (FAQ)
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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Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 106
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 114