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That thou art blam'd shall not be thy defect,
For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;
The ornament of beauty is suspect,
A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air.
So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater being woo'd of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present'st a pure unstained prime.
Thou hast passed by the ambush of young days
Either not assail'd, or victor being charg'd;
Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy, evermore enlarg'd,
If some suspect of ill mask'd not thy show,
Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 70 [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 LXX", 1865 [ 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. 70, 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: 110
Non sarà per tua colpa se di biasimo sei oggetto il bello è stato sempre bersaglio di calunnie e dei suoi strali; Quanto adorna bellezza è sempre stato sospetto, un corvo che vola nella più dolce aria dei cieli. Se tu sei buono, la maldicenza ti corteggia E il tuo valore è maggiore, perché sei corteggiato da tempo; Perché l’invidia è un verme che le più tenere gemme assaggia, e tu ad essa offri una primizia pura e senza macchia. In giovinezza hai superato ogni insidia senza subirne gli assalti, o contro essi vincendo; Ma questa lode di te non soffocherà l’invidia che sempre ti accompagnerà più sfrenata crescendo, Se un sospetto maligno non velasse il tuo splendore, allora resteresti solo, a regnare su ogni cuore.
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. 70
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 126
