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How can my muse want subject to invent,
While thou dost breathe, that pour'st into my verse
Thine own sweet argument, too excellent
For every vulgar paper to rehearse?
O! give thy self the thanks, if aught in me
Worthy perusal stand against thy sight ;
For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,
When thou thy self dost give invention light?
Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth
Than those old nine which rhymers invocate;
And he that calls on thee, let him bring forth
Eternal numbers to outlive long date.
If my slight muse do please these curious days,
The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 38 [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 XXXVIII", 1865 [ high voice or medium 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. 38, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Potrà mai, la mia musa, mancare di soggetto,
finché respiri tu, che ai miei versi puoi dare,
il dolce tema di te, che appare troppo eletto
per essere messo in rima da ogni foglio volgare?
Oh! Sii pur grato a te stesso, se qualcosa di me
ti trovi a leggere, che meriti attenzione;
Chi sarebbe lo stolto che non scriverebbe di te,
se proprio tu dai luce all'invenzione?
Sii tu la decima Musa, più degna dieci volte
di quelle altre nove dai poeti invocate;
E colui che ti invoca di creare abbia sorte
rime immortali, mai più dimenticate.
Se la mia semplice Musa in questi strani tempi può piacere,
sia allora mia la fatica, ma resti tutto tuo l'onore.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2012 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 38
This text was added to the website: 2012-09-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 119