Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
Language: English
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface,
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distilled:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure ere it be self-killed.
That use is not forbidden usury,
Which happies those that pay the willing loan;
That's for thy self to breed another thee,
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thy self were happier than thou art,
If ten of thine ten times refigured thee:
Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-willed, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir.
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 Michael G. Cunningham (b. 1937), "Then let not Winter's ragged hand", op. 112 no. ? (1985) [ medium-high voice and piano ], from Shakespeare Sonnets, Set 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet VI", 1862-4 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Winkler , "Sonnet VI", 1982 [ SATB quartet and piano ], from Cycle for Several Voices and Piano, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
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. 6, first published 1863
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 6, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 110
Non consentire che il tocco ruvido...
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Non consentire che il tocco ruvido dell'inverno devasti,
l'estate tua, prima che ne ricavi l'essenza,
rendi dolce un'ampolla; un luogo impreziosisci,
con tesori di bellezza prima che di sua mano si spenga.
Non è usura vietata l'interesse
Che rende lieto chi paga un prestito voluto;
e che consiste nel creare da te un altro te stesso,
o dieci volte meglio, se dieci a uno è pagato;
E dieci volte saresti più lieto ancora
Se ognuno dei tuoi dieci, per dieci ti rifigurasse:
cosa potrebbe la morte, quando sarai dipartito, allora
se nella posterità di vivere ti riuscisse?
Non essere testardo, troppo bello tu sei
Per esser preda di morte, e fare i vermi tuoi eredi.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2009 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2009-05-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 115
