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Trois Chansons de William Shakespeare
Song Cycle by Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971)
View original-language texts alone: Three Songs from William Shakespeare
Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly? Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy. Why lovest thou that which thou receivest not gladly, Or else receivest with pleasure thine annoy? If the true concord of well-tunèd sounds, By unions married, do offend thine ear, They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear. Mark how one string, sweet husband to another, Strikes each in each by mutual ordering, Resembling sire and child and happy mother, Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing. Whose speechless song, being many, seeming one, Sings this to thee: "Thou single wilt prove none."
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 8
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Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them, - ding-dong bell.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2
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Par cinq brasses, ton père gît, De ses os le corail est fait ; Ce sont les perles qui étaient ses yeux : Rien de lui qui ne soit périssable, Mais subit le flot marin qui le transforme En quelque chose de riche et étrange. Les nymphes marines sonnent son glas chaque heure : Ding, dong ! Écoutez ! maintenant je les entends, ding, dong, dong !
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 9
Word count: 61
When daisies pied and violets blue And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, And lady-smocks all silver white, Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo, then on ev'ry tree Mocks married men, for thus sings he, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo: o word of fear, Unpleasing to a married ear. When shepherds pipe on oaten straws, And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks, When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws, And maidens bleach their summer smocks, The cuckoo, then on ev'ry tree Mocks married men, for thus sings he, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo: o word of fear, Unpleasing to a married ear.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2
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Quand les pâquerettes diaprées et les violettes bleues Et les cressons argentés Et les primevères de couleur jaune Émaillent de leurs grâces les prés, Le coucou alors, d’arbre en arbre, Se moque des maris, car il chante : Coucou ! CoucouI Coucou !… Ô mot sinistre, Malsonnant à une oreille mariée ! Quand les bergers embouchent les chalumeaux d’avoine Et que les gaies alouettes servent d’horloges aux laboureurs, Quand s’accouplent les tourterelles, les grolles et les corneilles Et que les filles blanchissent leurs jupes au soleil Le coucou alors, d’arbre en arbre, Se moque des maris, car il chante : Coucou ! Coucou ! Coucou !… Ô mot sinistre, Malsonnant à une oreille mariée !
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2015-07-27
Line count: 18
Word count: 108