Ainsi, il n'en est pas de moi comme de cette muse

Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)

So is it not with me as with that Muse

Language: English

Our translations: ITA

So is it not with me as with that Muse,
Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
Who heaven itself for ornament doth use
And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
Making a couplement of proud compare
With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,
With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare,
That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems.
O! let me, true in love, but truly write,
And then believe me, my love is as fair
As any mother's child, though not so bright
As those gold candles fixed in heaven's air:
  Let them say more that like of hearsay well;
  I will not praise that purpose not to sell.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 21 [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 Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XXI", 1865 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Sonet 21", op. 78 no. 4, published 1904 [ tenor and piano ], from 5 Sonnette von William Shakespeare, no. 4, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892) , no title ; composed by Adolf Wallnöfer.
- Go to the text.

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

FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 21, first published 1857
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Non mi appartiene quella Musa poetica", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-10-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 117

Ainsi, il n'en est pas de moi comme de...

Language: French (Français) after the English

Ainsi, il n'en est pas de moi comme de cette muse 
dont une beauté peinte exalte le vers, 
qui emploie le ciel même comme ornement, 
et rapproche les plus charmantes choses des charmes de l'objet aimé ;
L'accouplant dans une comparaison ambitieuse avec le soleil et la lune, 
avec les pierres précieuses de la terre et de la mer, 
avec les fleurs premières-nées d'avril 
et toutes les choses rares que l'air du ciel enserre sur ce globe immense.
Oh ! que du moins, vrai en amour, je n'écrive que la vérité ; 
et crois-moi alors, l'être que j'aime est aussi charmant 
que peut l'être une créature née d'une mère, bien que moins splendide 
que les flambeaux d'or fixés dans le ciel éthéré.
  Que ceux-là en disent plus qui se plaisent aux belles paroles ; 
  moi, je ne veux pas tant vanter ce que je n'entends pas vendre.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 21, first published 1857 [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. 21
- Go to the text page.

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 text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-08-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 143