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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)

No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do...
Language: English 
Our translations:  ITA
No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight.
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,
And rather make them born to our desire
Than think that we before have heard them told.
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wondering at the present nor the past,
For thy records and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste.
  This I do vow and this shall ever be;
  I will be true, despite thy scythe and thee.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 123 [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 Miriam Gideon (1906 - 1996), "Sonnet CXXIII: No, Time, thou shalt not boast", 1949 [ voice and piano, or voice and trumpet and string quartet (or string orchestra) ], from Sonnets from Shakespeare, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "No! Time thou shalt not bost . .", 2021 [ soprano, flute, clarinet, viola ], from Two Sonnets, no. 2, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXIII", 1862-4 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický)
  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 123, first published 1857
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "No, Tempo, del mio mutare non potrai farti vanto", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 116

Non, tu ne te vanteras pas de me faire...
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Non, tu ne te vanteras pas de me faire changer, ô Temps ! 
Tes pyramides, reconstruites sur de nouvelles assises, 
n'ont pour moi rien de surprenant, rien d'extraordinaire : 
elles ne sont que les revêtements d'une matière antérieure.
Notre destinée est brève, et c'est ce qui fait que nous admirons 
ces choses que tu nous donnes comme antiques ; 
et nous les croirions faites tout exprès pour nous, 
plutôt que de nous rappeler qu'elles étaient connues auparavant.
Je fais fi de toi et de tes registres, 
et je ne m'étonne ni de ton présent ni de ton passé. 
Je ne vois que mensonge dans ces monuments 
que tu défais et refais dans ta hâte continuelle.
  Pour moi, je fais le vœu, le vœu pour toujours, 
  d'être constant, en dépit de toi et de ta faux.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 123, 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. 123
    • Go to the text page.

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: 132

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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