by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
What win I, if I gain the thing I seek? A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy. Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week? Or sells eternity to get a toy? For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy? Or what fond beggar, but to touch the crown, Would with the sceptre straight be strucken down?
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Rape of Lucrece [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 Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "What win I if I gain?", 1895-6 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Qu'est-ce que je gagne si je gagne ?", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-05-06
Line count: 7
Word count: 61