by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
As an unperfect actor on the stage
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
As an unperfect actor on the stage, Who with his fear is put beside his part, Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage, Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart; So I, for fear of trust, forget to say The perfect ceremony of love's rite, And in mine own love's strength seem to decay, O'ercharg'd with burthen of mine own love's might. O! let my looks be then the eloquence And dumb presagers of my speaking breast, Who plead for love, and look for recompense, More than that tongue that more hath more express'd. O! learn to read what silent love hath writ: To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 23 [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 XXIII", 1865 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by John Philip William Dankworth (1927 - 2010), "Duet of Sonnets", 1964, copyright © 1964 [ voice, instrumental ensemble (jazz ensemble) ], in Shakespeare & All That Jazz; text follows Sonnet 23, then Sonnet 24, and then both simultaneously
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Maciej Słomczyński (1922 - 1998) ; composed by Tadeusz Baird.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 23, 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) , "Come, sulla scena, un attore dilettante", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-09-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Semblable à un acteur imparfait qui en...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Semblable à un acteur imparfait qui en scène est jeté par sa timidité hors de son rôle, ou à un être en délire qui, emporté par trop de frénésie, sent son cœur s'affaiblir par l'excès de la force ; J'oublie, par manque de confiance, de parler exactement suivant les formes prescrites par le rite d'amour, et je semble défaillir sous la force de mon amour, accablé de tout le poids de sa puissance. Oh ! que mes écrits soient donc les éloquents et muets interprètes de mon cœur qui te parle : ils plaident mieux pour mon amour et méritent plus d'égards que cette langue qui en a déjà trop dit. Oh ! apprends à lire ce que mon amour silencieux a écrit : il appartient à l'esprit sublime de l'amour d'entendre avec les yeux.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 23, 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. 23
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: 130