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The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action: and till action, lust
Is perjur'd, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest, to have extreme;
A bliss in proof, -- and prov'd, a very woe;
Before, a joy propos'd; behind a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 129 [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 CXXIX - Th'expense of Spirit", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 2 no. 2 (1945) [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hilda Paredes (b. 1957), "A Swallowed Bait", 2014, first performed 2014 [ baritone, flute, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Passmore (b. 1954), "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Dark Lady Sonnets , no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXIX", 1866 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek)
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Sonet 129"
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 129, 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
Spreco di spirito e vergognosa rovina è la lussuria in azione: e, finché questa dura, essa è spergiura, assassina, cruenta, d’ogni colpa piena, selvaggia, estrema, brutale, crudele, e pure traditora; Quando è appena goduta, subito è disprezzata; Fuor di ragione cercata; e non appena trovata fuor di ragione odiata, come un’esca gettata, per render folle quello che l’ha ingoiata: Con rabbia voluta e con rabbia posseduta; intensamente cercata, ottenuta, ricordata; deliziosa alla prova ma poi seguita da afflizione; prima, una gioia, dopo, solo un’illusione. Questo tutti lo sanno ma nessuno è capace di evitare quel paradiso che all’inferno conduce.
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. 129
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 99