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O me! what eyes hath Love put in my head,
Which have no correspondence with true sight;
Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled,
That censures falsely what they see aright?
If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,
What means the world to say it is not so?
If it be not, then love doth well denote
Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no,
How can it? O! how can Love's eye be true,
That is so vexed with watching and with tears?
No marvel then, though I mistake my view;
The sun itself sees not, till heaven clears.
O cunning Love! with tears thou keep'st me blind,
Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 148 [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 David Passmore (b. 1954), "O me! what eyes hath Love put in my head" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Dark Lady Sonnets , no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXLVIII", 1864 [ medium 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. 148, 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: 2010-08-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 123
Ahimè, quali occhi nella mente Amore mi ha fisso che non vedono quello che invece esiste veramente! O se lo vedono, dove è fuggito il mio giudizio che ciò che vede valuta falsamente? Se sembra bello ciò che appare al mio sguardo mentitore, che cosa vuole dire il mondo che lo ha negato? Se non lo è, ha dimostrato il mio amore che non è vero per tutti l’occhio innamorato: E come lo potrebbe? Come potrebbe essere vero lo sguardo d’amore che da veglie e da pianto è tormentato? Non c’è da farsi meraviglia, allora, se commetto errore se come il Sole, finché non torna il sereno, ho l’occhio accecato. Oh, Amore astuto, che col pianto cieco mi hai fatto perché non possa accorgermi di ogni tuo disgustoso difetto.
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. 148
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 129