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My love is as a fever, longing still For that which longer nurseth the disease, Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, [The uncertain]1 sickly appetite to please. My reason, the physician to my love, Angry that his prescriptions are not kept, Hath left me, and I desperate now approve Desire is death, which physic did except. Past cure I am, now Reason is past care, And frantic-mad with evermore unrest; My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are, At random from the truth vainly express'd; For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Diamond: "Th'uncertain"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 147 [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 Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "My love is as a fever, longing still", 1964, published 1967 [ high voice and piano ], from We Two, no. 6, New York : Southern [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Noël Lee (1924 - 2013), "My love is as a fever", 1996 [ bass-baritone, clarinet, horn, and contrabass ], from Sonnets de soleil, de sanglots - Four Songs from Shakespeare, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXLVII", 1866 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fabian Svensson (b. 1980), "My love is as a fever", 1997-1998, first performed 1998 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 147, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Come una febbre è l’amore che provo", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-08-31
Line count: 14
Word count: 108
Come una febbre è l’amore che provo, sempre invaghito Di ciò che a prolungare il suo male conviene, e che, pur di placare questo insano appetito, vuole nutrirsi di quanto il suo morbo mantiene. Ragione, che il mio amore curava, mi ha abbandonato Sdegnata perché dei suoi consigli poco mi cale, e solamente adesso scopro disperato che il desiderio, che lei mi vietava, è a me mortale. Poi che Ragion più non mi cura, non posso guarire, e sempre agitato in un crescente delirio, Frasi e pensieri di folle m’è dato in sorte avere, Vaneggiamenti a caso, lontani dal vero. Poiché ho stimato buona ed ho pensato pura, Te, nera come l’inferno e come la notte scura.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2007 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. 147
This text was added to the website: 2007-01-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 117