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Let not my love be call'd idolatry,
Nor my beloved as an idol show,
Since all alike my songs and praises be
To one, of one, still such, and ever so.
Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind,
Still constant in a wondrous excellence;
Therefore my verse to constancy confin'd,
One thing expressing, leaves out difference.
'Fair, kind, and true,' is all my argument,
'Fair, kind, and true,' varying to other words;
And in this change is my invention spent,
Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.
Fair, kind, and true, have often liv'd alone,
Which three till now, never kept seat in one.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 105 [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 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet CV - Let not my love", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 19 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CV", 1865 [ vocal trio for mezzo-soprano, tenor, and bass with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 105, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 105
Di idolatria il mio amore non sia accusato né sia considerato un idolo il suo oggetto, se è sempre uguale ogni verso a lui dedicato per lui solo lodare, e ancora e sempre a lui solo diretto. Sempre gentile è il mio amore, oggi e domani pure rimane costante e degno di ammirazione, per questo il mio verso, si limita a ripetere lo stesso contenuto senza una variazione. “Bellezza, Bontà e Virtù” sono l’unico argomento ”Bellezza, Bontà e Virtù”, muta solo il racconto, e in questo mutar di parole impegno il mio talento raggruppare tre temi in uno soltanto. ”Bellezza, Bontà e Virtù” da sole sono state spesso mai, però, si sono trovate riunite in un solo soggetto.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2025 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 105
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 118