by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Or I shall live your epitaph to make Matches original text
Language: English
Or I shall live your epitaph to make, Or you survive when I in earth am rotten; From hence your memory death cannot take, Although in me each part will be forgotten. Your name from hence immortal life shall have, Though I, once gone, to all the world must die: The earth can yield me but a common grave, When you entombèd in men's eyes shall lie. Your monument shall be my gentle verse, Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read, And tongues to be your being shall rehearse When all the breathers of this world are dead; You still shall live -- such virtue hath my pen -- Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.
Composition:
- Set to music by Elena Olegovna Firsova (b. 1950), "Or I shall live your epitaph to make", op. 25a no. 1, published 1988 [ voice and 4 saxophones ], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 1
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 81
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. 81, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sia che io resti vivo, il tuo epitaffio a dettare", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Сонет 81", written 1981, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 117