Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
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:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 130 [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 Ailsa Dixon (1932 - 2017), "My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun", 1989, copyright © 2025 [ soprano, tenor and piano ], from Two Shakespeare Sonnets, no. 2, Composers Edition
Publisher: Composers Edition [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - 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;
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:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 130
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-09
Line count: 14
Word count: 123