sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) and by Richard Barnfield (1574 - 1627)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
If music and sweet poetry agree
Language: English
If music and sweet poetry agree, As they must needs, the sister and the brother, Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me, Because thou lovest the one, and I the other. Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch Upon the lute doth ravish human sense; Spenser to me, whose deep conceit is such As, passing all conceit, needs no defence. Thou lovest to hear the sweet melodious sound That Phoebus' lute, the queen of music, makes; And I in deep delight am chiefly drown'd When as himself to singing he betakes. One god is god of both, as poets feign; One knight loves both, and both in thee remain.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
- by Richard Barnfield (1574 - 1627), no title, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 8, first published 1599 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Passionate Pilgrim. VIII", op. 78 no. 2, published 1904 [ tenor and piano ], from 5 Sonnette von William Shakespeare, no. 2, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892) , no title ; composed by Adolf Wallnöfer.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 113
Si musique et douce poésie s’accordent
Language: French (Français) after the English
Si musique et douce poésie s’accordent comme le doivent deux sœurs, alors nous devons bien nous aimer, toi et moi, car tu aimes l’une et j’aime l’autre. Ton goût est pour Dowland, dont la touche céleste sur le luth ravit les sens humains ; le mien est pour Spenser, dont la pensée est si profonde que, dépassant toute pensée, elle échappe à l’éloge. Tu aimes entendre le doux son mélodieux que Phébus tire de son luth, ce roi de la musique, et moi je suis surtout noyé dans des délices profondes quand il se met à chanter. Poésie et musique ont le même Dieu, dit la fable : toutes deux ont le même amoureux, car toutes deux vivent en toi.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) and by Richard Barnfield (1574 - 1627), no title, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 8, first published 1599
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: 2016-01-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 118