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by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
Translation by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912)

Thou art fair, and few are fairer
Language: English 
Thou art fair, and few are fairer
Of the Nymphs of earth or ocean;
They are robes that fit the wearer --
Those soft limbs of thine, whose motion
Ever falls and shifts and glances 
As the life within them dances.

Thy deep eyes, a double Planet,
Gaze the wisest into madness
With soft clear fire, -- the winds that fan it
Are those thoughts of tender gladness
Which, like zephyrs on the billow,
Make thy gentle soul their pillow.

If, whatever face thou paintest
In those eyes, grows pale with pleasure,
If the fainting soul is faintest
When it hears thy harp's wild measure,
Wonder not that when thou speakest
Of the weak my heart is weakest.

As dew beneath the wind of morning,
As the sea which whirlwinds waken, 
As the birds at thunder's warning,
As aught mute yet deeply shaken,
As one who feels an unseen spirit
Is my heart when thine is near it.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   E. Rushton 

E. Rushton sets stanzas 1, 4

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "To Sophia" [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 Albert Boubée (1850 - 1909), "Thou art fair (To Sophia)", published 1893 [ voice, piano, violoncello obbligato ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Edward Rushton , "To Sophia (from To Sophia (Miss Stacey), 1819)", 2000, stanzas 1,4 [ baritone and piano ], from Three Fragments of Shelley, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Sloky psané Miss Sophii Stacey-ové", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-24
Line count: 24
Word count: 156

Sloky psané Miss Sophii Stacey‑ové
Language: English  after the English 
Krásná jsi, jsou málo krasší
nymfy moře, nymfy země,
sladké tělo, v němž se vznáší
vděk tvůj, šat je, který jemně
kol tebe se skládá, svítí
jak to, jež v nich tančí žití.

Hlubý zrak tvůj hvězda dvojí
v bláznovství se moudrých dívá,
sladkým ohněm jenž jej kojí,
vítr, myšlenky jsou, snivá
něžnost jichž si zefír v moři
podušku z tvé duše tvoří.

Tvář-li bledne — sladká muka —
jež se v tvojich očích zhlíží,
duše mře-li, tvá když ruka
v harfy akkordy se hříží,
ký div, při tvém rozhovoru
nejslabším že neznám vzdoru.

Jako rosa v jitra vlání,
moře, vichry probuzeno,
ptáci v hromu varování
němé cos, byť otřeseno,
jak by kdosi cítil ducha
jímá mne, že’s blízko, tucha.

Confirmed with SHELLEY, P. B. Výbor lyriky, translated by Jaroslav Vrchlický, Praha: J. Otto, 1901, pages 51-52.


Text Authorship:

  • by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912), "Sloky psané Miss Sophii Stacey-ové", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "To Sophia"
    • Go to the text page.

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 page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 120

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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