by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
A woman's face with nature's own hand...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
A woman's face with nature's own hand painted, Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion; A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted With shifting change, as is false women's fashion: An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; A man in hue all hues in his controlling, Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth. And for a woman wert thou first created; Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting, And by addition me of thee defeated, By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure, Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 20 [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 Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "A woman's face with nature's own hand painted", 1981, published c1982 [ tenor and piano ], from Widmungen : aus den Sonetten von William Shakespeare, no. 1, Mainz ; New York : Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XX", 1864 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 20, first published 1857
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, appears in Œuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 20, first published 1863
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Viso di donna, che Natura stessa ha dipinto", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Tu as une figure de femme, peinte de la...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Tu as une figure de femme, peinte de la main même de la nature, ô toi, maître-maîtresse de ma passion ! Tu as un tendre cœur de femme, mais ne connaissant pas l'humeur changeante à la mode chez ces trompeuses ; Tu as des yeux plus brillants que les leurs, et moins faux dans leurs œillades, qui dorent l'objet sur lequel ils se fixent : homme, tu domines tout éclat de ton éclat suprême, ravissant les yeux des hommes, fascinant l'âme des femmes. Tu fus d'abord créé pour être femme. Puis, quand la nature t'eut fait, elle raffola, et par une addition elle me dérouta de toi, en t'ajoutant une chose qui ne me sert de rien. Mais, puisqu'elle t'a armé pour le plaisir des femmes, à moi ton amour, à elles les trésors de jouissances de ton amour !
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 20, 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. 20
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: 136