by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
The little Love‑god lying once asleep
Language: English
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)
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