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I never saw that you did painting need,
And therefore to your fair no painting set;
I found, or thought I found, you did exceed
That barren tender of a poet's debt:
And therefore have I slept in your report,
That you yourself, being extant, well might show
How far a modern quill doth come too short,
Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.
This silence for my sin you did impute,
Which shall be most my glory being dumb;
For I impair not beauty being mute,
When others would give life, and bring a tomb.
There lives more life in one of your fair eyes
Than both your poets can in praise devise.
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 116
Mai ho ritenuto di dover aggiungere altro colore che la tua delicata bellezza possa arricchire; pensavo, o lo credevo, che fossi superiore ai miseri tributi che un poeta può offrire. E per tale ragione fui pigro a lodarti perché dimostri con il tuo aspetto stesso quanto penna di poeta non basti a descrivere le virtù che sono in tuo possesso. Hai imputato a mia colpa il mio lungo silenzio ma l’essere stato muto sarà di mia gloria motivo e infatti, tacendo, non danneggio il tuo aspetto che, se descritto, è ucciso e non rimane vivo. In uno solo dei tuoi begli occhi più vita si trova di quanto possa inventarne la coppia di poeti che ti loda.
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This text was added to the website: 2025-07-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 117
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