That time of year thou mayst in me...

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
  This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
  To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Sonnets, no. 73

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

by Walter Aschaffenburg (1927-) , "That time of year thou mayst in me behold", op. 14 no. 3 (1966-7), first performed 1967 [tenor and piano], from Three Shakespeare Sonnets, no. 3.
by Leslie Crabtree (1941-) , "Sonnet LXXIII"
by Elena Olegovna Firsova (1950-) , "That time of year thou mayst in me behold", op. 25 no. 2, published 1981, first performed 1986 [voice and organ], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 2.
by Elena Olegovna Firsova (1950-) , "That time of year thou mayst in me behold", op. 25a no. 2, published 1988 [voice and saxophone quartet], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 2.
by Thomas Pasatieri (1945-) , "That time of year", from Two Shakespeare Songs, no. 2.
by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-) , "LXXIII (That time of year thou mayst in me behold)", op. 14 no. 1 (1973), from Three Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 1.

ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani)
RUS Russian [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov)

Date added to the website: 2004-08-09.

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