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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964)

O, that you were yourself! but, love,...
Language: English 
Our translations:  ITA
O, that you were yourself! but, love, you are
No longer yours than you yourself here live:
Against this coming end you should prepare,
And your sweet semblance to some other give.
So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination: then you were
Yourself again after yourself's decease,
When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Which husbandry in honour might uphold
Against the stormy gusts of winter's day
And barren rage of death's eternal cold?
  O, none but unthrifts! Dear my love, you know
  You had a father: let your son say so.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 13 [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 Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XIII", 1864 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • 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. 13 ; composed by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, appears in Œuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 13, first published 1863
  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 13, first published 1857
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sonetto XIII", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 108

Ne izmenjajsja, bud' samim soboj
Language: Russian (Русский)  after the English 
Ne izmenjajsja, bud' samim soboj. 
Ty možeš' byt' soboj, poka živëš'. 
Kogda že smert' razrušit obraz tvoj,
Pust' budet kto-to na tebja pochož. 
Tebe prirodoj krasota dana
Na očen' kratkij srok, i potomu
Puskaj po pravu perejdët ona
K nasledniku prjamomu tvoemu. 
V zabotlivych rukach prekrasnyj dom
Ne drognet pered natiskom zimy,
I nikogda ne vocaritsja v nëm
Dychan'e smerti, choloda i t'my. 
O, pust', kogda nastanet tvoj konec,
Zvučat slova: ъByl u menja otec!ъ

About the headline (FAQ)

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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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. 13 [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. 13
    • Go to the text page.

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), "Не изменяйся, будь самим собой", op. 52 no. 6 (1953-5), from Десять сонетов Шекспира (Desjat' sonetov Shekspira) = Ten Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 75

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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