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No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change: Thy pyramids built up with newer might To me are nothing novel, nothing strange; They are but dressings of a former sight. Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire What thou dost foist upon us that is old, And rather make them born to our desire Than think that we before have heard them told. Thy registers and thee I both defy, Not wondering at the present nor the past, For thy records and what we see doth lie, Made more or less by thy continual haste. This I do vow and this shall ever be; I will be true, despite thy scythe and thee.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 123 [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 Miriam Gideon (1906 - 1996), "Sonnet CXXIII: No, Time, thou shalt not boast", 1949 [ voice and piano, or voice and trumpet and string quartet (or string orchestra) ], from Sonnets from Shakespeare, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "No! Time thou shalt not bost . .", 2021 [ soprano, flute, clarinet, viola ], from Two Sonnets, no. 2, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXIII", 1862-4 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický)
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 123, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "No, Tempo, del mio mutare non potrai farti vanto", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 116
No, Tempo, del mio mutare non potrai farti vanto: Le piramidi che tu costruisci con la tua possanza Fra cose nuove, o fuori dal comune, io non le conto: Di cose già vedute sono mera sembianza. I nostri giorni son brevi, e per questo ammiriamo Ciò che, già vecchio,ci stai a propinare e che nato dai nostri desideri noi stimiamo, senza comprendere di averne già sentito parlare. Io sfido Te e i tuoi registri pure, e non mi faccio meraviglia del passato o del presente, perché ciò che hai lasciato, e ciò che ora ci mostri è mentitore, ché la tua eterna fretta più grande o più misero lo rende. Questo è il mio giuramento, e lo manterrò; A scorno tuo e della tua falce io non muterò.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2008 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 123
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 128