by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874)
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best...
Language: English
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected; But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee, And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed. Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright, How would thy shadow's form form happy show To the clear [day]1 with thy much clearer light, When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so? How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made By looking on thee in the living day, When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay? All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Britten: "days"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 43 [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 Edward Applebaum (b. 1937), "When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see", 1975, published 1982 [ soprano, alto, baritone, SSSAAABarBarBar chorus, and chamber orchestra ], from Cantata Concertante: "When dreams do show thee me", no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Bowerman (b. 1936), "When most I wink" [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "When most I wink", 1901 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see", op. 60 no. 8, from Nocturne for tenor solo, seven obligato instruments and string orchestra, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Sonnet XLIII", 1916 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Diaphony (Diafonia), no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XLIII", 1865 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carlos Claudio Spies (1925 - 2020), "When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see", 1976-7, first performed 1978 [ satb quartet and piano ], from Five Sonnet-Settings, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lex Zwaap (1919 - 1988), as Lex van Delden, "When most I wink", op. 72 (Drie sonnetten van Shakespeare) no. 1 (1961) [ contralto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874) ; composed by Henri-Pierre Poupard, as Henri Sauguet.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Quan més parpellejo, millor hi veuen els meus ulls", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 43, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Più io li tengo chiusi, più i miei occhi son chiari", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 122
Je te vois en rêve
Language: French (Français) after the English
Lorsque mes yeux se ferment, c’est alors qu’ils voient le mieux, car tout le jour ils voient des choses auxquelles ils ne prennent pas garde; mais, lorsque je dors, je te vois en rêve. Obscurément brillants, leur éclat se dirige vers l’obscurité, et toi dont l’ombre illuminerait les ombres, comme la forme de ton ombre serait un spectacle charmant dans le jour pur, l’éclairant de ta lumière plus pure encore, puisque ton ombre brille ainsi à des yeux fermés. Comme mes yeux seraient heureux, de te contempler, pendant la vie du jour, puisque pendant la mort de la nuit ta belle ombre imparfaite apparaît à travers un lourd sommeil à des yeux sans regards. Tous les jours me sont des nuits, tant que je ne te vois pas, et les nuits sont des jours éclatants, lorsque mes rêves te voient devant moi.
Text Authorship:
- by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 43
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Henri-Pierre Poupard (1901 - 1989), as Henri Sauguet, "Je te vois en rêve", 1929, published 1960, first performed 1931 [high voice and piano], from Deux poèmes de Shakespeare, Éd. Jobert. Confirmed with a CD booklet [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-10-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 142