by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Mine eye hath play'd the painter and...
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath steel'd, Thy beauty's form in table of my heart; My body is the frame wherein 'tis held, And perspective it is best painter's art. For through the painter must you see his skill, To find where your true image pictur'd lies, Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still, That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes. Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done: Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me Are windows to my breast, where-through the sun Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee; Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art, They draw but what they see, know not the heart.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 24 [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 Gerard van Hulst , "Mine eye hath play'd the painter", op. 164 (Three Shakespeare-Songs) no. ? (1977) [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XXIV", 1865 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by John Philip William Dankworth (1927 - 2010), "Duet of Sonnets", 1964, copyright © 1964 [ voice, instrumental ensemble (jazz ensemble) ], in Shakespeare & All That Jazz; text follows Sonnet 23, then Sonnet 24, and then both simultaneously
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Pierre Jean Jouve (1887 - 1976) , first published 1955, copyright © ; composed by René Jacques Koering.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , "Sonnet XXIV" ; composed by Heinzpeter Helberger.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 24, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "S'è fatto, l'occhio mio, pittore", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 120