by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
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:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 6 [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), "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
Donc, ne laisse pas la rude main de...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Donc, ne laisse pas la rude main de l'hiver déflorer en toi ton été, avant que tu aies distillé ta séve. Verse ton parfum en quelque fiole. Thésaurise en un lieu choisi les trésors de ta beauté, et ne la laisse pas se suicider. Ce n'est pas une usure défendue que l'usance qui fait le bonheur de quiconque lui paie intérêt. Tu seras heureux de t'acquitter ainsi en créant un autre toi-même, dix fois plus heureux si tu rends dix pour un ; car dix autres toi-même multiplieraient d'autant ton bonheur, si dix enfants te reproduisaient dix fois. Que pourrait donc faire la mort si tu quittais ce monde, en y restant vivant dans ta postérité ? Ne sois pas égoïste ; car tu es trop beau pour être la conquête de la mort et faire des vers tes héritiers.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 6, 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. 6
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: 137