by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
King Stephen was a worthy peer
Language: English after the English
King Stephen [was]1 a worthy peer, His breeches cost him but a crown; He held them sixpence all too dear, With that he called the tailor lown. He was a wight of high renown. And thou art but of low degree: 'Tis pride that pulls the country down; Then take thine auld cloak about thee.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 in some versions of Shakespeare, "was and"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Act II, Scene 3 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , Scottish ballad
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994), "King Stephen", 1965 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (1890 - 1960) ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo) , no title
Researcher for this page: Maurice Hodges
This text was added to the website: 2007-08-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 56
Le roi Étienne était un digne pair
Language: French (Français) after the English
Le roi Étienne était un digne pair. Ses culottes ne lui coûtaient qu’une couronne ; Il trouvait ça six pence trop cher, Et aussi il appelait son tailleur un drôle. C’était un être de haut renom, Et toi, tu n’es qu’un homme de peu. C’est l’orgueil qui ruine le pays. Prends donc sur toi ton vieux manteau !
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 by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Act II, Scene 3 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , Scottish ballad
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: 2016-06-14
Line count: 8
Word count: 56