by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
How sweet and lovely dost thou make the...
Language: English
How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame
Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose,
Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name!
O! in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose.
That tongue that tells the story of thy days,
Making lascivious comments on thy sport,
Cannot dispraise, but in a kind of praise;
Naming thy name, blesses an ill report.
O! what a mansion have those vices got
Which for their habitation chose out thee,
Where beauty's veil doth cover every blot
And all things turns to fair that eyes can see!
Take heed, dear heart, of this large privilege;
The hardest knife ill-us'd doth lose his edge.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 95 [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 Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XCV", 1866 [ high voice 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. 95, first published 1857
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 112
Quel charme et quelle grâce tu donnes à...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Quel charme et quelle grâce tu donnes à la faute, qui, comme le ver dans la rose odorante, fait tache à la beauté de ton nom florissant ! Oh ! de quels parfums tu embaumes tes péchés ! La langue qui raconte l'histoire de tes jours, en faisant sur tes fantaisies de lascifs commentaires, ne peut te déprécier que par une sorte de louange ; car ton nom qu'elle nomme sanctifie la médisance. Oh ! quelle résidence splendide ont les défauts qui t'ont choisi pour demeure ! Là, un voile de beauté couvre toutes les taches, et tout ce que l'œil peut voir prend de la séduction. Ménage, cher cœur, ce large privilége : la lame la mieux trempée, mal employée, s'émousse.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 95, 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. 95
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: 2010-08-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 115