Or I shall live your epitaph to make
Language: English
Our translations: ITA RUS
Or I shall live your epitaph to make,
Or you survive when I in earth am rotten;
From hence your memory death cannot take,
Although in me each part will be forgotten.
Your name from hence immortal life shall have,
Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:
The earth can yield me but a common grave,
When you entombèd in men's eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read,
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
You still shall live -- such virtue hath my pen --
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Elena Olegovna Firsova (b. 1950), "Or I shall live your epitaph to make", op. 25 no. 1, published 1981, first performed 1986 [ voice and organ ], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Elena Olegovna Firsova (b. 1950), "Or I shall live your epitaph to make", op. 25a no. 1, published 1988 [ voice and 4 saxophones ], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet LXXXI", 1865, published [1878] [ medium voice and piano ], in Sonnets of Shakespeare, Selected from a complete Setting and Miscellaneous Songs, ed. Natalie Macfarren, London : Stanley Lucas, Weber [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 81, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sia che io resti vivo, il tuo epitaffio a dettare", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Сонет 81", written 1981, copyright ©, (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: 117
Сонет 81
Language: Russian (Русский) after the English
Тебе ли я сложу надгробный стих,
Иль сам скорей сгнию в сырой могиле,
Но будешь ты всегда среди живых,
А я сойду в забвенья край унылый.
Мои стихи твой образ сохранят,
А я умру, – не вспомнят даже имя;
Мою могилу годы сокрушат,
Твоей – века стоять неколебимо.
Твой памятник – в моих простых стихах,
Что внуки наших внуков прочитают,
Ты будешь жить в далёких голосах,
Когда друзья последние истают.
Ты не умрёшь – таков мой гордый стих –
Как дух, витая на устах живых.
Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST
Note on TransliterationsText Authorship:
Based on:
Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 85