by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
The expense of spirit in a waste of...
Language: English
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action: and till action, lust
Is perjur'd, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest, to have extreme;
A bliss in proof, -- and prov'd, a very woe;
Before, a joy propos'd; behind a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 129 [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 CXXIX - Th'expense of Spirit", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 2 no. 2 (1945) [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Passmore (b. 1954), "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Dark Lady Sonnets , no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXIX", 1866 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek)
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Sonet 129"
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 129, first published 1857
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 110
La satisfaction de la luxure, c'est...
Language: French (Français) after the English
La satisfaction de la luxure, c'est l'épuisement de l'âme en prodigalité de honte : jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit satisfaite, la luxure est parjure, meurtrière, sanguinaire, infâme, sauvage, extrême, brutale, cruelle, déloyale. Aussitôt assouvie, aussitôt méprisée. Poursuivi hors de raison, à peine son désir est-il atteint qu'il est maudit hors de raison, comme une fatale amorce mise exprès pour rendre fou celui qui l'avale. Folle dans la poursuite, elle l'est aussi dans la possession : ayant eu, elle veut encore, extrême dans son exigence : béatitude, à l'épreuve ; après l'épreuve, vraie douleur ; d'abord, joyeux projet, rêve ensuite ! Le monde sait tout cela, et pourtant nul ne sait éviter le ciel qui mène les hommes à cet enfer.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 129, 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. 129
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: 113