Why is my verse so barren of new pride, So far from variation or quick change? Why with the time do I not glance aside To new-found methods and to compounds strange? Why write I still all one, ever the same, And keep invention in a noted weed, That every word doth almost tell my name, Showing their birth and where they did proceed? O, know, sweet love, I always write of you, And you and love are still my argument; So all my best is dressing old words new, Spending again what is already spent: For as the sun is daily new and old, So is my love still telling what is told.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 76 [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 Daniel Ruyneman (1886 - 1963), "Sonnet of Shakespeare", 1949 [ voice and piano ], from Seven melodies, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet LXXVI", 1865-6 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Sonet 76", op. 78 no. 3, published 1904 [ tenor and piano ], from 5 Sonnette von William Shakespeare, no. 3, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892) ; composed by Adolf Wallnöfer.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) , no title, appears in Шекспир Уильям - сонеты (Shekspir Uil'jam - sonety) = Sonnets of William Shakespeare, no. 76 ; composed by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 76, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Perché il mio verso è spoglio di ogni nuovo ornamento", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Uvy', moj stix ne bleshhet noviznoj, Raznoobraz`em peremen nezhdanny'x. Ne poiskat` li mne tropy' inoj, Priemov novy'x, sochetanij stranny'x? YA povtoryayu prezhnee opyat`, V odezhde staroj poyavlyayus` snova, I kazhetsya, po imeni nazvat` Menya v stihax lyuboe mozhet slovo. Vse e`to ottogo, chto vnov` i vnov` Reshayu ya odnu svoyu zadachu: YA o tebe pishu, moya lyubov`, I to zhe serdce, te zhe sily' trachu. Vse to zhe solnce xodit nado mnoj, No i ono ne bleshhet noviznoj.
About the headline (FAQ)
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Text Authorship:
- by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964), no title, appears in Шекспир Уильям - сонеты (Shekspir Uil'jam - sonety) = Sonnets of William Shakespeare, no. 76 [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. 76
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904 - 1987), "Увы, мой стих не блещет новизной", op. 52 no. 10 (1953-5), from Десять сонетов Шекспира (Desjat' sonetov Shekspira) = Ten Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 78