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Like as, to make our appetite more keen,
With eager compounds we our palate urge;
As, to prevent our maladies unseen,
We sicken to shun sickness when we purge;
Even so, being full of your ne'er-cloying sweetness,
To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding;
And, sick of welfare, found a kind of meetness
To be diseas'd, ere that there was true needing.
Thus policy in love, to anticipate
The ills that were not, grew to faults assur'd,
And brought to medicine a healthful state
Which, rank of goodness, would by ill be cur'd;
But thence I learn and find the lesson true,
Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 118 [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 Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXVIII", 1866 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudi Spring (1962 - 2025), "Sonnet CXVIII", op. 72 no. 3 (1999) [ vocal quintet: five solo voices a cappella (s-mez-a-t-bar) ], from Drei Shakespeare-Gesänge, no. 3 [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. 118, 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: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 112
Come per rendere il nostro appetito più aguzzo il gusto stimoliamo con sostanze piccanti; Come per evitare un immaginario disturbo ci ammaliamo sul serio assumendo purganti; Così, colmo della tua dolce dolcezza che non è mai troppa, con salse amare ho il mio vitto condito, e malato di benessere mi parve buona cosa ammalarmi prima che fosse dovuto. Così una strategia d’amore, per porre rimedio a mali non ancora reali, creò colpe vere e affidò al medico un paziente sano che, sazio di bene, volle curarsi col male. Da tutto questo ricavo un insegnamento vero, chi s’ammala di te assume pure un veleno.
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. 118
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 103