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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Sonnet XXX ‑ "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought"
 (Sung text for setting by G. Bachlund)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
Our translations:  ITA
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
  But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
  All losses are restored and sorrows end.

Composition:

    Set to music by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Sonnet XXX - "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought"", 2002 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from Five Sonnets, no. 4

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 30

See other settings of this text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 30, 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 dolci pensieri in silenzioso convegno", copyright © 2008, (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: 116

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