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William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
130
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,
Coral is far more red, than her lips red,
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun:
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head:
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks,
And in some perfumes is there more delight,
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know,
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet by heaven I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.
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William Shakespeare
Sonnet 129
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner, but despisèd straight;
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
Sonnet 129
Verzieking der ziel in schandelijk verval,
Dat is de daad der lust; lust tot de daad
Is meineed, bloeddorst, moord, bitterste gal,
Extreem, verwilderd, ruw, wreed, vol verraad;
Amper gesmaakt, of prompt al weer veracht;
Zinloos begeerd, de buik nog amper vol,
Of zinloos weer gehaat, want aangebracht
Als lokaas, maakt het hem die toehapt dol;
Dol in de jacht, en in verovering;
Hebbend, gehad, en hebberig: zonder toom;
Zalig de daad; gedaan, een zielig ding;
Ervoor, verwacht genot; erna, een droom.
Wel weet de wereld dit, maar weet niet wel
D’ hemel te mijden leidend naar die hel.
Vertaald door Cornelis W. Schoneveld, Bestorm mijn hart, (2008, pp. 53-55); herziening feb. 2012
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William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
128
How oft when thou, my music, music play’st,
Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway’st
The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,
Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,
To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,
Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,
At the wood’s boldness by thee blushing stand.
To be so tickled they would change their state
And situation with those dancing chips,
O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,
Making dead wood more blest than living lips,
Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.
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William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
127
In the old age black was not counted fair,
Or if it were it bore not beauty’s name:
But now is black beauty’s successive heir,
And beauty slandered with a bastard shame,
For since each hand hath put on nature’s power,
Fairing the foul with art’s false borrowed face,
Sweet beauty hath no name no holy bower,
But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
Therefore my mistress’ eyes are raven black,
Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem,
At such who not born fair no beauty lack,
Slandering creation with a false esteem,
Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,
That every tongue says beauty should look so.
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Shakespeare Sonnet 123
No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change,
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange,
They are but dressings of a former sight:
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire,
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,
And rather make them born to our desire,
Than think that we before have heard them told:
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wond’ring at the present, nor the past,
For thy records, and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste:
This I do vow and this shall ever be,
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.
Shakespeare Sonnet 123
Nee! snoeven dat ik wankel zal niet gaan,
O Tijd: jouw pyramides nieuw gebouwd–
Modern of vreemd doen zij mij heus niet aan,
Hun kruik mag nieuw zijn, maar hun wijn is oud;
Wij leven kort, en dus bewonderen wij
Wat jij ons opdist dat op leeftijd is,
En doen er wat gewild en jong is bij,
Veel liever dan oude geschiedenis;
Jou en je leggers, nooit door mij vertrouwd,
Bevraag ik niet voor ’t nu, noch voor het toen,
Want wat jij vastlegt en wij zien is fout,
Vergroot, verkleind, door ’t steeds gehaast te doen;
Dit zweer ik nu voor eeuwig: ik blijf trouw,
En dat ondanks je zeis en ondanks jou.
Vertaling Cornelis W. Schoneveld, april 2012
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William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
126
O thou my lovely boy who in thy power,
Dost hold Time’s fickle glass his fickle hour:
Who hast by waning grown, and therein show’st,
Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow’st.
If Nature (sovereign mistress over wrack)
As thou goest onwards still will pluck thee back,
She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill
May time disgrace, and wretched minutes kill.
Yet fear her O thou minion of her pleasure,
She may detain, but not still keep her treasure!
Her audit (though delayed) answered must be,
And her quietus is to render thee.
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William Shakespeare Sonnet 30
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye (unused to flow)
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since canceled woe,
And moan th’ expense of many a vanished sight
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
William Shakespeare Sonnet 30
Daag ik ter zitting van gemijmer zoet
Herinnering aan zaken lang vergaan,
Dan zucht ik diep om wat ik missen moet,
En lijd nieuw leed om oude tijd verdaan.
Dan laat ik graag een traan (die niet gauw vloeit)
Om vrienden in hun doodsnacht zonder tijd,
Beween weer liefde mij al lang ontgroeid,
En treur om schuld door veel vergetelheid.
Dan klaag ik graag om een belegen klacht,
En tel bedrukt weer neer, van leed tot leed,
De droeve som van wat oud onheil bracht,
Die ‘k kwijt alsof ik die niet eerder kweet.
Maar denk ik dan aan jou, mijn liefste vriend,
Zijn tranen weg, verliezen terugverdiend.
Vertaald door Cornelis W. Schoneveld,
Bestorm mijn hart, (2008, p53), herziening feb. 2012
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: Shakespeare, Shakespeare, William
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
125
Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy,
With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity,
Which proves more short than waste or ruining?
Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
Lose all, and more by paying too much rent
For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour,
Pitiful thrivers in their gazing spent?
No, let me be obsequious in thy heart,
And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
Hence, thou suborned informer, a true soul
When most impeached, stands least in thy control.
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William Shakespeare Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakespeare Sonnet 18
Zal ik je keuren als een zomerdag?
Veel kalmer en veel lieflijker ben jij.
Door ruige wind raakt meibloei teer van slag
En zomer’s pacht gaat al te snel voorbij;
Soms schijnt het oog van d’ hemel al te heet,
En dikwijls wordt zijn gulden blos gedempt;
Eens komt de tijd die aan de schoonheid vreet,
Door ’t lot, of wending der natuur ontstemd;
Maar, tijdloos, zal jouw zomer niet vergaan,
Noch jij onterfd zijn van zijn schoon domein,
Al snoeft de dood, jouw schim treft hij nooit aan,
Daar jij als tijdloos vers in groei zal zijn:
Zo lang de mensheid oog of adem heeft,
Zo lang leeft dit, dat aan jou leven geeft.
Vertaald door Cornelis W. Schoneveld, (herzien feb. 2012)
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: Shakespeare, Shakespeare, William
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
124
If my dear love were but the child of state,
It might for Fortune’s bastard be unfathered,
As subject to time’s love or to time’s hate,
Weeds among weeds, or flowers with flowers gathered.
No it was builded far from accident,
It suffers not in smiling pomp, nor falls
Under the blow of thralled discontent,
Whereto th’ inviting time our fashion calls:
It fears not policy that heretic,
Which works on leases of short-numbered hours,
But all alone stands hugely politic,
That it nor grows with heat, nor drowns with showers.
To this I witness call the fools of time,
Which die for goodness, who have lived for crime.
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: -Shakespeare Sonnets
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
123
No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change,
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange,
They are but dressings Of a former sight:
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire,
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,
And rather make them born to our desire,
Than think that we before have heard them told:
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wond’ring at the present, nor the past,
For thy records, and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste:
This I do vow and this shall ever be,
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: -Shakespeare Sonnets
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
THE SONNETS
122
Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain
Full charactered with lasting memory,
Which shall above that idle rank remain
Beyond all date even to eternity.
Or at the least, so long as brain and heart
Have faculty by nature to subsist,
Till each to razed oblivion yield his part
Of thee, thy record never can be missed:
That poor retention could not so much hold,
Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score,
Therefore to give them from me was I bold,
To trust those tables that receive thee more:
To keep an adjunct to remember thee
Were to import forgetfulness in me.
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: -Shakespeare Sonnets
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