by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
How careful was I when I took my way
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
How careful was I when I took my way,
Each trifle under truest bars to thrust,
That to my use it might unused stay
From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust!
But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,
Most worthy comfort, now my greatest grief,
Thou best of dearest, and mine only care,
Art left the prey of every vulgar thief.
Thee have I not lock'd up in any chest,
Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,
Within the gentle closure of my breast,
From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part;
And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear,
For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 48 [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 XLVIII", 1865 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 48, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 117
Quel soin j'ai eu, quand je me suis mis...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Quel soin j'ai eu, quand je me suis mis en voyage, de serrer sous les plus solides verrous la moindre bagatelle, afin qu'elle restât intacte pour mon usage dans un dépôt sûr, à l'abri du larcin ! Mais toi, près de qui mes bijoux sont bagatelles, toi, ma plus précieuse joie, maintenant mon plus grand souci, toi, le meilleur de mon trésor et mon unique préoccupation, je t'ai laissé en proie au plus vulgaire voleur. Je ne t'ai serré dans aucun coffre-fort, sinon en un où tu n'es pas, bien que je sente que tu y es, dans le doux écrin de mon cœur que tu peux quitter à ton gré. Encore ai-je bien peur qu'on ne t'enlève de là, car la probité se fait voleuse pour une si chère prise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 48, 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. 48
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: 2010-08-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 130