by Anonymous / Unidentified Author and sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good
Language: English
Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good; A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly; A flower that dies when first it 'gins to bud; A brittle glass that 's broken presently: A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower, Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour. And as goods lost are seld or never found, As vaded gloss no rubbing will refresh, As flowers dead lie wither'd on the ground, As broken glass no cement can redress, So beauty blemish'd once 's for ever lost, In spite of physic, painting, pain, and cost.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 13 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Hendrik de Regt (b. 1950), "Beauty is but a vain", op. 66 no. ? (1978), published 1980 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], from three madrigals for male choir, madrigal; Amsterdam : Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 94
La beauté n'est qu'un bien futile et...
Language: French (Français) after the English
La beauté n'est qu'un bien futile et douteux ; c'est un lustre brillant qui se ternit soudain ; une fleur qui meurt, dès qu'elle commence à éclore ; un verre éclatant qui sur-le-champ se brise : Bien perdu, lustre terni, verre brisé, fleur morte en une heure ! Et, comme un bien perdu est rarement retrouvé, pour ne pas dire jamais, comme aucun frottement ne peut rafraîchir le lustre terni, comme la fleur morte tombe fanée à terre, comme aucun ciment ne peut réparer le verre brisé, La beauté, une fois flétrie, est à jamais perdue, en dépit des remèdes, du fard, des peines et des dépenses.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 13 and misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
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 page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 102