My mistress' eyes are nothing like the...
Language: English
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go, --
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
About the headline (FAQ)
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 Paavo Heininen (b. 1938), "True and false compare", op. 19 no. 3 (1973), first performed 1979 [ voice and piano ], from Love's Philosophy, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 - 1957), "My mistress' eye", op. 38 (5 Lieder) no. 5 (1948) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Passmore (b. 1954), "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Dark Lady Sonnets , no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXX", 1862-4 [ 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. 130, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Gli occhi della mia donna non sono come il sole", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 123
Gli occhi della mia donna non sono come il sole
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Gli occhi della mia donna non sono come il sole;
Ed è, delle sue labbra, assai più rosso il corallo;
Se bianca è la neve, grigio il suo seno appare;
Capelli come crini, proprio quelli ha sul capo.
Ho visto rose damascate, colore porpora o bianco,
ma tali rose sulle sue guance non trovo;
ed in certi profumi scopro un maggiore incanto
di quello che dal fiato della mia donna ricavo.
Amo sentirla parlare, e tuttavia so bene
Che la musica possiede un più gradito suono;
Confesso di non aver mai visto una dea camminare
Ché la mia bella, quando procede, tocca il terreno:
Eppure, per il cielo, stimo assai rara la mia amata
Più di ogni altra donna da falsi paragoni smentita.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2009 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-09
Line count: 14
Word count: 123
