Follow a shadow, it still flies you; Seem to fly it, it will pursue: So court a mistress, she denies you; Let her alone, she will court you. Say, are not women truly, then, Styled but the shadows of us men? At morn and even, shades are longest; At noon they are or short or none: So men at weakest, they are strongest, But grant us perfect, they're not known. Say, are not women truly then, Styled but the shadows of us men?
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637), "That women are but men's shadows", appears in The Forest [author's text not yet checked 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 Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Follow a shadow", 1888-1906, published 1907, from English Lyrics, Seventh Set, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Die Schatten", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 83
Jag deinen Schatten: er flieht deinen Schritt; Lauf ihm davon, so läuft er mit. Wirb um die Dame, so sagt sie Nein; Laß sie allein: sie läuft hinterdrein. Sind nicht die Weiber – sag´s auf Ehr´! – Hinter uns Männern wie Schatten her?
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Confirmed with Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten Übersetzt von Richard Flatter, Walter Krieg Verlag, Wien-Bad Bocklet-Zürich, 1954, 2nd edition (1st edition 1936), page 116. Note: only the first stanza was translated.
Text Authorship:
- by Richard Flatter (1891 - 1960), "Die Schatten", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637), "That women are but men's shadows", appears in The Forest
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: Volkmar Henschel
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-25
Line count: 6
Word count: 43