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Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit, To thee I send this written embassage, To witness duty, not to show my wit: Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it, But that I hope some good conceit of thine In thy soul's thought, all naked, will bestow it: Till whatsoever star that guides my moving, Points on me graciously with fair aspect, And puts apparel on my tottered loving, To show me worthy of thy sweet respect: Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee; Till then, not show my head where thou mayst prove me.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 26 [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 XXVI", 1865 [ 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. 26, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2025, (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: 118
Signore del mio amore, cui in fido vassallaggio
resto, per i tuoi meriti, strettamente legato
invio a te, con questo mio scritto, un messaggio
non per mostrare ingegno, ma quale omaggio devoto:
Devozione sì grande, da non saperlo vestire,
per la mia povertà d’ingegno, con il termine adatto,
così che appare spoglio, se non potessi sperare
che tu, nudo la accolga con un qualche tuo bel concetto:
fin quando l’ignota stella che illumina la mia strada,
rivolga a me, benigna, il suo gentile aspetto,
e al mio amore incerto una veste adatta conceda,
dimostrandomi degno del tuo dolce rispetto.
Potrò allora farti mostra di quanto il mio amore è forte;
non me lo chiedere adesso, che me ne sto in disparte.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2025 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. 26
This text was added to the website: 2012-04-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 121
