by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press
Language: English
Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain; Lest sorrow lend me words, and words express The manner of my pity-wanting pain. If I might teach thee wit, better it were, Though not to love, yet, love to tell me so; -- As testy sick men, when their deaths be near, No news but health from their physicians know; -- For, if I should despair, I should grow mad, And in my madness might speak ill of thee; Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad, Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be. That I may not be so, nor thou belied, Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 140 [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 CXL", 1866. [medium voice and piano] [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, from Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 140, published 1857
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 118
Sois prudente dans ta cruauté :...
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Sois prudente dans ta cruauté : n'accable pas ma patience jusqu'ici muette de trop de dédains, de peur que le désespoir ne me prête des paroles, et que ces paroles n'expriment le ressentiment de ma douleur méprisée. Si je pouvais t'enseigner la prudence, mieux vaudrait, vois-tu, amour, quand tu ne m'aimerais pas, me dire que tu m'aimes ; de même qu'aux malades moroses, dont la mort est proche, les médecins ne parlent que de guérison. Car, si je désespérais, je deviendrais fou, et dans ma folie je pourrais mal parler de toi. Maintenant le monde perverti est devenu si méchant que de folles médisances sont crues par ses folles oreilles. Oh ! pour qu'il n'en soit pas ainsi et que tu ne sois pas calomniée, regarde-moi en face, quand même la coquetÂÂterie égarerait ton cœur.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873), no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 140, 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. 140
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: 2010-08-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 135