by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
My tongue‑tied Muse in manners holds her...
Language: English
My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still,
While comments of your praise richly compil'd,
Reserve their character with golden quill,
And precious phrase by all the Muses fil'd.
I think good thoughts, whilst others write good words,
And like unlettered clerk still cry 'Amen'
To every hymn that able spirit affords,
In polish'd form of well-refined pen.
Hearing you praised, I say ' 'tis so, 'tis true,'
And to the most of praise add something more;
But that is in my thought, whose love to you,
Though words come hindmost, holds his rank before.
Then others, for the breath of words respect,
Me for my dumb thoughts, speaking in effect.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 85 [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 LXXXV", 1865-6 [ 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. 85, 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: 111
Ma muse, bouche close, garde...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Ma muse, bouche close, garde discrètement le silence, tandis que votre louange, compilée en riches commentaires, est gravée à jamais avec une plume d'or sur une phrase précieuse taillée par toutes les muses. Je pense de belles pensées, tandis que les autres écrivent de belles paroles, et, comme un clerc illettré, je crie toujours : Amen ! à chaque hymne qu'un esprit supérieur vous apporte sous la forme achevée d'une plume raffinée. Quand je vous entends louer, je dis : C'est cela ! c'est vrai ! et j'ajoute quelque chose au dernier mot de l'éloge, mais c'est dans ma pensée, où mon amour pour vous, refoulant toute parole, garde toujours le premier rang. Donc, appréciez chez les autres le souffle des paroles, et chez moi le langage réel des pensées muettes.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 85, 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. 85
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: 126