As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou...
Language: English
As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st
In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st
Thou may'st call thine when thou from youth convertest.
Herein lives wisdom, beauty and increase:
Without this, folly, age and cold decay:
If all were minded so, the times should cease
And threescore year would make the world away.
Let those whom Nature hath not made for store,
Harsh featureless and rude, barrenly perish:
Look, whom she best endow'd she gave the more;
Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
She carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• T. Loevendie T. Loevendie sets lines 1-4
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Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, appears in Œuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 11, first published 1863
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 11, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Jeroen Scholten
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 116
Quanto ti toglierà vecchiezza, ti sarà...
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Quanto ti toglierà vecchiezza, ti sarà ridato
in uno dei tuoi figli, dove tornerà a fiorire;
e il sangue fresco che in gioventù hai donato
potrai chiamarlo tuo nel tuo declinare.
In questo vive saggezza, bellezza e accrescimento:
senza di questo è follia, vecchiezza e decadimento:
Se tutti la pensassero così, cesserebbe il tempo
e in sessant'anni avrebbe fine il mondo.
Chi Natura non destinò a lasciare erede,
perché sgraziato o deforme, può sterile perire:
Chi ella meglio dotò, e a te anche di più diede,
tale generoso regalo dovrebbe con dovizia usare:
Nel crearti, Natura pose su di te un sigillo,
per trasmetterlo ad altri conservando il modello.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2011 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2011-09-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 109
