Those parts of thee that the world's eye...
Language: English
Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view
Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend;
All tongues -- the voice of souls -- give thee that due,
Uttering bare truth, even so as foes commend.
Thy outward thus with outward praise is crown'd;
But those same tongues, that give thee so thine own,
In other accents do this praise confound
By seeing farther than the eye hath shown.
They look into the beauty of thy mind,
And that in guess they measure by thy deeds;
Then -- churls -- their thoughts, although their eyes were kind,
To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds:
But why thy odour matcheth not thy show,
The soil is this, that thou dost common grow.
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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):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
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This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 123
Ogni cosa di te che l'occhio del mondo...
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Ogni cosa di te che l'occhio del mondo vede,
non possiede difetti che un pensiero segreto possa criticare;
Ogni lingua, che dell’anima è voce, ti dà quanto ti deve,
la nuda verità, che anche i nemici non possono negare.
Il tuo aspetto esteriore è, così, coronato da una lode esteriore;
Ma quelle stesse lingue, che in questo modo ti hanno lodato,
con altri accenti questa lode adombrano
vedendo più lontano di quanto l'occhio abbia mostrato.
Sulla bellezza della tua mente indagano
e per valutarla le tue azioni hanno scrutato;
Se gentili erano gli occhi, miseri i pensieri furono,
al tuo bel fiore accostando l'odore delle erbacce:
Ma se il tuo odore non corrisponde a quanto di te appare,
E’ questa la ragione: che diventi volgare.
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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This text was added to the website: 2025-07-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 125
