Sonnet XIII

O, that you were yourself! but, love, you are
No longer yours than you yourself here live:
Against this coming end you should prepare,
And your sweet semblance to some other give.
So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination: then you were
Yourself again after yourself's decease,
When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Which husbandry in honour might uphold
Against the stormy gusts of winter's day
And barren rage of death's eternal cold?
  O, none but unthrifts! Dear my love, you know
  You had a father: let your son say so.

Authorship

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Sonnets, no. 13

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 XIII", 1864. [medium voice and piano]

by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904-1987) , "Ne izmenjajsja, bud' samim soboj", op. 52 no. 6 (1953-5), from Desjat' sonetov Shekspira, no. 6.

FRE French (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, from Oeuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 13, published 1863
FRE French (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, from Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 13, published 1857
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sonetto XIII", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website: 2003-11-13.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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Не изменяйся, будь самим собой

Не изменяйся, будь самим собой. 
Ты можешь быть собой, пока живёшь. 
Когда же смерть разрушит образ твой,
Пусть будет кто-то на тебя похож. 
Тебе природой красота дана
На очень краткий срок, и потому
Пускай по праву перейдёт она
К наследнику прямому твоему. 
В заботливых руках прекрасный дом
Не дрогнет перед натиском зимы,
И никогда не воцарится в нём
Дыханье смерти, холода и тьмы. 
О, пусть, когда настанет твой конец,
Звучат слова: ъБыл у меня отец!ъ

Транслитерация (Show transliteration)

by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887-1964) , "Sonet XIII"

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Sonnets, no. 13 ITA FRE

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904-1987) , "Ne izmenjajsja, bud' samim soboj", op. 52 no. 6 (1953-5), from Desjat' sonetov Shekspira, no. 6.

Text added to the website: 2003-11-13.