by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
But be contented: when that fell arrest
Language: English
But be contented: when that fell arrest
Without all bail shall carry me away,
My life hath in this line some interest,
Which for memorial still with thee shall stay.
When thou reviewest this, thou dost review
The very part was consecrate to thee:
The earth can have but earth, which is his due;
My spirit is thine, the better part of me:
So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life,
The prey of worms, my body being dead;
The coward conquest of a wretch's knife,
Too base of thee to be remembered.
The worth of that is that which it contains,
And that is this, and this with thee remains.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 74 [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 LXXIV", 1865 [ medium 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. 74, first published 1857
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 113
Mais résigne‑toi : quand le fatal arrêt
Language: French (Français) after the English
Mais résigne-toi : quand le fatal arrêt, qui n'admet pas de caution, m'emportera de ce monde, ma vie se retrouvera dans ces vers qui resteront toujours avec toi comme un mémorial. Quand tu les reverras, tu reconnaîtras la part même de mon être qui t'a été consacrée. La terre ne peut avoir de moi que le peu de terre qui lui est dû ; toi, tu auras mon esprit, la meilleure partie de moi-même. Ainsi tu n'auras perdu de ma vie que la lie, la proie des vers, mon corps mort, lâche conquête du couteau d'un misérable, trop vile pour mériter ton souvenir. La seule chose précieuse est ce que ce corps contient ; et cette chose est à toi, et elle te reste à jamais.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 74, 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. 74
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: 2010-08-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 123