by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)

Come, seeling night
Language: English 
Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day,
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood;
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse,
Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse.

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-26
Line count: 8
Word count: 59

Viens, noir fauconnier de la nuit
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Viens, noir fauconnier de la nuit,
bande les yeux sensibles du jour compatissant,
et, de ta main sanglante et invisible,
arrache et mets en pièces le fil de cette grande existence
qui me fait pâlir !… La lumière s’obscurcit, et le corbeau
vole vers son bois favori ;
les bonnes créatures du jour commencent à s’assoupir et à dormir,
tandis que les noirs agents de la nuit se dressent vers leur proie.

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Text Authorship:

Based on:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-01-09
Line count: 8
Word count: 71