Sonnet CLIV | The little Love-god lying once asleep

The little Love‑god lying once asleep

Language: English

Our translations: ITA

The little Love-god lying once asleep,
Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,
Whilst many nymphs that vow'd chaste life to keep
Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand
The fairest votary took up that fire
Which many legions of true hearts had warm'd;
And so the general of hot desire
Was, sleeping, by a virgin hand disarm'd.
This brand she quenched in a cool well by,
Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,
Growing a bath and healthful remedy,
For men diseas'd; but I, my mistress' thrall,
    Came there for cure and this by that I prove,
    Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 154 [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 Juriaan Andriessen (1925 - 1996), "The little love-god lying once asleep", from Thy black is fairest, 3 Shakespeare-sonnets, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet CLIV - The little Love-God", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 3 no. 1 (1945) [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Piet Ketting (1904 - 1984), "The little love-god", 1938 [ low voice and piano ], from Three Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CLIV", 1866 [ medium voice or high voice and piano ], first setting [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CLIV", 1866 [ SSA chorus and piano ], partsong; second setting [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 154, first published 1857
POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Sonet 154", appears in Z sonetów, no. 3, Warsaw, first published 1907

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 107