by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not...
Language: English 
Our translations:  ITA
Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but to-day by feeding is allay'd,
To-morrow sharpened in his former might:
So, love, be thou, although to-day thou fill
Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness,
To-morrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love, with a perpetual dulness.
Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore, where two contracted new
Come daily to the banks, that when they see
Return of love, more blest may be the view;
    Or call it winter, which being full of care,
    Makes summer's welcome, thrice more wished, more rare.

About the headline (FAQ)

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):

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Pierre Jean Jouve (1887 - 1976) , copyright © ; composed by Georges Delerue.
  • Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Maciej Słomczyński (1922 - 1998) ; composed by Tadeusz Baird.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 112