by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thy self thy beauty's legacy? Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend, And being frank she lends to those are free: Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse The bounteous largess given thee to give? Profitless usurer, why dost thou use So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live? For having traffic with thy self alone, Thou of thy self thy sweet self dost deceive: Then how when nature calls thee to be gone, What acceptable audit canst thou leave? Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee, Which, used, lives th' executor to be.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 4 [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 Michael G. Cunningham (b. 1937), "Unthrifty loveliness", op. 112 no. ? (1985), first performed 1986 [ medium-high voice ], from Shakespeare Sonnets, Set 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas A. Hyde , "Unthrifty loveliness", 1974 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet IV", 1864 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Winkler , "Sonnet IV", 1982 [ SATB quartet and piano ], from Cycle for Several Voices and Piano, no. 4 [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. 4, first published 1863
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 4, 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: 104
Gaspilleur de grâce, pourquoi...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Gaspilleur de grâce, pourquoi dépenses-tu en toi-même l'héritage de ta beauté ? La nature dans ses legs ne donne rien, elle prête, et, étant libérale, elle ne prête qu'aux généreux. Alors, bel avare, pourquoi perds-tu les trésors féconds qui te sont donnés pour que tu les donnes ? Usurier sans profit, pourquoi gardes-tu une si grande somme de sommes, sans savoir en vivre ? Car, n'ayant de trafic qu'avec toi seul, tu frustres de toi-même ton doux être. Aussi, quand la nature t'appellera pour le départ, quel bilan acceptable laisseras-tu ? Il faudra que ta beauté, improductive, te suive dans la tombe, elle qui, productive, eût été ton exécutrice testamentaire.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 4, first published 1857 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 4
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 106