by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
If there be nothing new, but that which...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguil'd,
Which labouring for invention bear amiss
The second burthen of a former child!
O! that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done!
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Wh'r we are mended, or wh'r better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
O! sure I am the wits of former days,
To subjects worse have given admiring praise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 59 [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 LIX", 1865, published [1878] [ medium voice and piano ], in Sonnets of Shakespeare, Selected from a complete Setting and Miscellaneous Songs, ed. Natalie Macfarren, London : Stanley Lucas, Weber [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. 59, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2024, (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: 109
S'il est vrai qu'il n'y a rien de...
Language: French (Français) after the English
S'il est vrai qu'il n'y a rien de nouveau, mais que tout ce qui existe a existé d'abord, quelle déception pour notre cerveau qui, dans le travail de l'invention, porte à son insu pour la seconde fois le fardeau d'un enfant déjà né ! Oh ! que l'histoire ne peut-elle, en ramenant mes regards dans le passé, par delà cinq cents révolutions de soleil, me montrer votre image dans quelque livre ancien, daté des premiers temps où la pensée fut fixée par des caractères ! Que ne puis-je voir ce qu'a pu inspirer au monde antique cette prodigieuse apparition de votre personne, et savoir ainsi si nous sommes en progrès ou en décadence, ou si la révolution n'est qu'une répétition ! Oh ! j'en suis sûr, les esprits des époques primitives ont donné la louange de l'admiration à des objets moins parfaits que vous.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 59, 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. 59
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: 139