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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Alois Brandl (1855 - 1940)

Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie
Language: English 
 Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,
And young affection gapes to be his heir;
That fair for which love groaned for and would die,
With tender Juliet matched, is not now fair.
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike bewitched by the charm of looks;
But to his foe supposed he must complain,
And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks.
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear,
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new beloved anywhere;
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Temp'ring extremities with extreme sweet.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, fourth Edition, London: Herringman, Brewster and Bentley, 1685. Appears in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Prologue, page 310.


Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Prologue

Go to the general single-text view

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

  • ROM Romanian (Română) (Ștefan Octavian Iosif)


Researcher for this page: Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website: 2019-09-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 114

[No title]
 (Sung text for setting by B. Blacher)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Die einst'ge Sehnsucht, sie liegt nun tot und kalt,
Und junge Neigung tritt jetzt das Erbe an:
Die Schöne, der sein krankes Seufzen gilt,  
ist im Vergleich zu Julia ein Wahn.
Geliebt ist Romeo jetzt und liebt entgegen,
Gefangen beide in der Blicke Maschen;
Der Feindin muß er sich zu Füßen legen,
Sie muß von spitzer Angel Liebe naschen.
Als Feind betrachtet, darf er nicht zu ihr,
Darf nicht, wie andre thun, ihr Liebe schwören;
und sie, die seine Lieb' erwidert 
kann zu ihrem Trauten lenken nicht die Schritte. 
Doch Liebe stärkt sie, sie begünstigt Zeit, 
mischt tiefste Not die höchste Seligkeit.

Composition:

    Set to music by Boris Blacher (1903 - 1975), no title, published 1963 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Chansons aus Shakespeares Romeo und Juliet, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by Alois Brandl (1855 - 1940), no title

Based on:

  • a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Prologue
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website: 2019-09-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 103

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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