by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
How oft when thou, my music, music...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
How oft when thou, my music, music play'st,
Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st
The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,
Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,
To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,
Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,
At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand!
To be so tickled, they would change their state
And situation with those dancing chips,
O'er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,
Making dead wood more bless'd than living lips.
Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 128 [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 Juriaan Andriessen (1925 - 1996), "How oft when thou, my music, music play'st", from Thy black is fairest, 3 Shakespeare-sonnets, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Sonnet CXXVIII", 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet CXXVIII - How oft, when thou my music", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 23 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "Sonnet 128", 2004 [ voice and piano ], from Sonnets and Soliloquies, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Passmore (b. 1954), "How oft when thou, my music, music play'st" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Dark Lady Sonnets , no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXVIII", 1862-6 [ SSB chorus or vocal trio and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Evan Thomas (b. 1958), "When thou, my music, music play'st", 2004 [ medium voice, 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. 128, first published 1857
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Quando tu , musica mia, musica ricavi", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 111
Que de fois, ô ma vivante musique, quand...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Que de fois, ô ma vivante musique, quand tu joues de la musique sur ce bois bienheureux dont la vibration réÂÂsonne sous tes doigts harmonieux, quand tu règles si doucement l'accord métallique qui ravit mon oreille, J'envie les touches qui, dans leurs bonds agiles, baisent le tendre creux de ta main, tandis que mes pauvres lèvres, qui devraient recueillir cette récolte, restent près de toi toutes rouges de la hardiesse du bois ! Pour être ainsi caressées, elles changeraient bien d'état et de place avec les touches dansantes sur lesquelles tes doigts se promènent d'une si douce allure, rendant le bois mort plus heureux que des lèvres vivantes. Puisque ces petites effrontées en sont si joyeuses, donne-leur tes doigts à baiser, mais donne-moi tes lèvres.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 128, 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. 128
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: 124