by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
To me, fair friend, you never can be old
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I ey'd, Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold, Have from the forests shook three summers' pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd, In process of the seasons have I seen, Three April perfumes in three hot [Junes]1 burn'd, Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. Ah! yet doth beauty like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure, and no pace perceiv'd; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceiv'd: For fear of which, hear this thou age unbred: Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Crabtree: "Augusts"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 104 [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 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet CIV - To me, fair friend", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 18 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Sonnet CIV", 2010 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CIV", 1866 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carlos Claudio Spies (1925 - 2020), "To me, fair friend, you never can be old", 1976-7, first performed 1978 [ satb quartet and piano ], from Five Sonnet-Settings, no. 5 [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. 104, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Per me, mio dolce amico, non potrai mai invecchiare", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 118
Pour moi, charmant ami, vous ne pouvez...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Pour moi, charmant ami, vous ne pouvez vieillir ; car, tel vous étiez quand mes yeux rencontrèrent les vôtres pour la première fois, telle votre beauté m'apparaît encore. Le froid de trois hivers a arraché aux forêts la parure de trois étés ; Trois beaux printemps se sont changés en jaunes automnes, dans la marche des saisons que j'ai vues ; les parfums de trois avrils ont été brûlés au feu de trois juins, depuis le premier jour où je vous ai vu dans toute la fraîcheur de votre jeunesse ; et elle est toujours aussi verte. Ah ! songez pourtant que la beauté, comme l'aiguille du cadran, dévie furtivement sans qu'on la voie bouger ; ainsi, votre doux éclat, que je me figure immuable, subit un changement sans que mes yeux l'aperçoivent. Sachez donc, pour vous mettre en garde, jeune inexpérimenté, qu'avant que vous fussiez né, l'été de bien des beautés était mort !
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 104, 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. 104
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: 2010-08-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 148