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.
If you wish to reprint translations, please use the Reprint Basket (upper right hand corner).
Reminder: You must always use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
So is it not with me as with that Muse, Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse, Who heaven itself for ornament doth use And every fair with his fair doth rehearse, Making a couplement of proud compare With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems, With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare, That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems. O! let me, true in love, but truly write, And then believe me, my love is as fair As any mother's child, though not so bright As those gold candles fixed in heaven's air: Let them say more that like of hearsay well; I will not praise that purpose not to sell.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 21 [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 XXI", 1865 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Sonet 21", op. 78 no. 4, published 1904 [ tenor and piano ], from 5 Sonnette von William Shakespeare, no. 4, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892) , no title ; composed by Adolf Wallnöfer.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 21, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Non mi appartiene quella Musa poetica", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 117
Non mi appartiene quella Musa poetica che solo di bellezze artefatte suole narrare, che il cielo stesso ad ornamento indica e ogni bella alla sua bella vuol comparare, accoppiandola, in compiaciuti paragoni, a Sole, a Luna, ad ogni gemma preziosa, ai boccioli d'Aprile, agli oggetti più strani, che il cielo abbraccia nella sua volta grandiosa. Lasciate che io, in amore sincero, scriva sinceramente, e credetemi pure: bello è il mio amore tanto quanto, a ogni madre, suo figlio, anche se non rilucente come le fiamme d'oro fisse nel firmamento. Dicano pure di più quanti amano frasi ad effetto; non vanterò la merce il cui commercio non tratto.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2012 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. 21
This text was added to the website: 2012-02-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 107