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Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel; For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold, Thy face hath not the power to make love groan: To say they err I dare not be so bold, Although I swear it to myself alone. And to be sure that is not false I swear, A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face, One on another's neck, do witness bear Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place. In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds, And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 131 [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 Juriaan Andriessen (1925 - 1996), "Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art", from Thy black is fairest, 3 Shakespeare-sonnets, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXXI", 1866 [ high voice and 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. 131, 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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 119
Per come sei fatta, tiranna ti ho chiamato come tutte quelle che la loro superba bellezza rende crudeli, e infatti sai bene che per il mio caro cuore appassionato, tu rappresenti il più splendido e prezioso dei monili. E tuttavia, in buona fede, chi ti vede non manca di notare che il tuo volto non ha il potere di suscitare sospiri d’amore, e se non ho il coraggio di dire che stanno sbagliando, giuro in segreto che non la penso come loro. E a darmi certezza che non sono spergiuro, mille sospiri, quando penso al tuo viso, in frotta accorrono, così testimoniando che il tuo nero, ai miei occhi, appare luminoso. Sei nera solo nel tuo comportamento, e non nell’apparenza da ciò deriva, io credo, ogni maldicenza.
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. 131
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 127