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That thou hast her it is not all my grief,
And yet it may be said I loved her dearly;
That she hath thee is of my wailing chief,
A loss in love that touches me more nearly.
Loving offenders thus I will excuse ye:
Thou dost love her, because thou know'st I love her;
And for my sake even so doth she abuse me,
Suffering my friend for my sake to approve her.
If I lose thee, my loss is my love's gain,
And losing her, my friend hath found that loss;
Both find each other, and I lose both twain,
And both for my sake lay on me this cross:
But here's the joy; my friend and I are one;
Sweet flattery! then she loves but me alone.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 42 [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 Hans-Jürgen von Bose (b. 1953), "Shakespeare Sonnet No. XLII", 1985, published [1987], first performed 1986 [ baritone and string quartet ], Mainz : Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XLII", 1865 [ medium voice or low 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. 42, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Che tu possieda lei non è tutto il mio tormento", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 130
Che tu possieda lei non è tutto il mio tormento e tuttavia si può dire che l'ho teneramente amata; che lei possieda te io soprattutto lamento, una sconfitta d'amore che è più grave ferita. Ma, amabili aguzzini, vi concedo una scusa: tu ami lei, perché sai che io l'amo pure, ed è per amor mio che anche lei mi rifiuta, lasciando che il mio amico l'ami, per mio amore. Così se io ti perdo, la mia amata arricchisco, e se è lei che mi manca, il mio amico è felice. Così voi vi ritrovate, e io tutti e due smarrisco, e entrambi, per mio amore, mi addossate la croce. Ma di questo gioisco; io e il mio amico siamo una persona; O dolce inganno! Ed è per questo che lei me solo ama.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2013 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. 42
This text was added to the website: 2013-05-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 133