by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou...
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st In one of thine, from that which thou departest; And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st Thou may'st call thine when thou from youth convertest. Herein lives wisdom, beauty and increase: Without this, folly, age and cold decay: If all were minded so, the times should cease And threescore year would make the world away. Let those whom Nature hath not made for store, Harsh featureless and rude, barrenly perish: Look, whom she best endow'd she gave the more; Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish: She carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.
T. Loevendie sets lines 1-4
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 11 [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 Theo Loevendie (b. 1930), "As fast as thou shalt wane", 1986, lines 1-4 [mezzo-soprano and instrumental ensemble (8)], from Two Songs, no. 2. [text verified 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XI", 1864-5. [medium voice and piano] [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, from Oeuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 11, published 1863
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, from Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 11, published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title unknown, copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Jeroen Scholten
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 116