by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
Or whether doth my mind, being crown'd...
Language: English
Or whether doth my mind, being crown'd with you,
Drink up the monarch's plague, this flattery?
Or whether shall I say, mine eye saith true,
And that your love taught it this alchemy,
To make of monsters and things indigest
Such cherubins as your sweet self resemble,
Creating every bad a perfect best,
As fast as objects to his beams assemble?
O! 'tis the first, 'tis flattery in my seeing,
And my great mind most kingly drinks it up:
Mine eye well knows what with his gust is 'greeing,
And to his palate doth prepare the cup:
If it be poison'd, 'tis the lesser sin
That mine eye loves it and doth first begin.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 114 [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 CXIV", 1866 [ medium voice or 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. 114, 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: 114
Est‑ce mon âme qui, couronnée en vous
Language: French (Français) after the English
Est-ce mon âme qui, couronnée en vous, avale ce poison monarchique, l'illusion ? Ou dois-je croire que mes yeux disent vrai et qu'ils apprennent de mon amour l'alchimie, Par laquelle ils changent les monstres et les êtres informes en autant de chérubins qui vous ressemblent, ô doux être, et transfigurent la laideur en beauté suprême aussi vite que les objets s'assemblent sous leurs rayons ? Oh ! la première conjecture est la vraie : c'est dans mes regards qu'est l'illusion, et mon âme exaltée s'en enivre très-royalement. Mes yeux savent bien ce qu'elle aime, et ils lui préparent la coupe selon ses goûts. Si c'est du poison qu'ils y mettent, leur crime a pour excuse qu'ils aiment ce poison-là et en boivent les premiers.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 114, 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. 114
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: 2010-08-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 120