by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
What's in the brain, that ink may...
Language: English
What's in the brain, that ink may character,
Which hath not figur'd to thee my true spirit?
What's new to speak, what now to register,
That may express my love, or thy dear merit?
Nothing, sweet boy; but yet, like prayers divine,
I must each day say o'er the very same;
Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine,
Even as when first I hallow'd thy fair name.
So that eternal love in love's fresh case,
Weighs not the dust and injury of age,
Nor gives to necessary wrinkles place,
But makes antiquity for aye his page;
Finding the first conceit of love there bred,
Where time and outward form would show it dead.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 108 [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 CVIII", 1865 [ medium voice or high 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. 108, 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: 115
Est‑il dans le cerveau humain une idée,...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Est-il dans le cerveau humain une idée, que puisse fixer l'encre, qui n'ait été employée à te représenter mes vrais sentiments ? Reste-t-il maintenant rien de nouveau à dire ou à écrire pour exprimer mon amour ou ton rare mérite ? Non, doux enfant. Comme dans nos prières à Dieu, je suis forcé chaque jour de redire la même chose, en trouvant neuve cette vieillerie : » Tu es à moi, je suis à toi, « comme le premier jour où j'ai sanctifié ton beau nom. Aussi, notre amour, dans son revêtement d'éternelle jeunesse, est à l'abri de la poussière injurieuse des siècles ; il ne donne pas prise aux rides fatales, et à jamais il fait du temps son page ; Devant retrouver toujours vivante ici l'image première du bien-aimé, alors qu'elle sera morte apparemment sous les formes extérieures de ce monde éphémère.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 108, 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. 108
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: 139