O from what power hast thou this...
Language: English
O from what power hast thou this powerful might
With insufficiency my heart to sway?
To make me give the lie to my true sight,
And swear that brightness doth not grace the day?
Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill,
That in the very refuse of thy deeds
There is such strength and warrantise of skill
That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds?
Who taught thee how to make me love thee more
The more I hear and see just cause of hate?
O, though I love what others do abhor,
With others thou shouldst not abhor my state:
If thy unworthiness rais'd love in me,
More worthy I to be belov'd of thee.
V. Giannini sets lines 9-10
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Text Authorship:
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 Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "O from what power hast thou this powerful might", 1964, published 1967 [ high voice and piano ], from We Two, no. 5, New York : Southern [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Vittorio Giannini (1903 - 1966), no title, copyright © 1953, lines 9-10, from opera The Taming of the Shrew, Act III ; New York : Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CL", 1866 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-08-31
Line count: 14
Word count: 118
Da quale potenza ricavi il forte potere
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Da quale potenza ricavi il forte potere
che riesce a governare il mio cuore grazie a ogni tuo difetto
e farmi dichiarare falsa la mia vista vera
e giurare che la luce chiara non abbellisce il giorno?
Da dove proviene la tua capacità di trasformare in bello il brutto
al punto che da ogni tua azione, anche la più bassa,
deriva un potere così bravo a convincere e ben saldo
da farmi credere che quanto hai di peggio ogni meglio di me sorpassa?
Chi ti ha insegnato a far sì che continuo ad amarti
quanto più sento e vedo ragioni per odiarti?
Oh, se riesco ad amare di te ciò che gli altri detestano,
tu non dovresti, come gli altri, detestare il mio stato:
Se la tua indegnità è stata capace di farmi amare te.
tanto più degno sono di essere amato da te.
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:
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 144
