by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
O! how much more doth beauty beauteous...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
O! how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give?
The rose looks fair, but fairer [we it]1 deem
[For]2 that sweet odour, which doth in it live.
The canker blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly
When summer's breath their masked buds discloses:
But, for [their]3 virtue only is their show,
They live unwoo'd, and unrespected fade;
Die [to]4 themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
Of their sweet deaths, are sweetest odours made:
And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall fade, by verse distills your truth.
F. Lygon sets lines 1-12
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)See also Mobile for Shakespeare by Roman Haubenstock-Ramati
1 Faith: "it we"
2 Faith: "By"
3 omitted by Faith.
4 Faith: "unto"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 54 [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 Bruce Faith (b. 1926), "Sonnet LIV" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Lygon , "Oh how much more doth beauty beauteous seeme", published [1866], lines 1-12 [ ATTB chorus and piano ], glee; London : Novello ; from the score: "2nd prize Catch Club, 22 June 1866" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ann Sheppard Mounsey (1811 - 1891), "Oh! how much more doth beauty", op. 11 no. 5, published 1836? [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos with piano ], from Six duets in canon for two soprano voices, with an accompaniment for the piano forte, no. 5, London : T. E. Purday [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet LIV", 1864 [ 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. 54, first published 1857
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sonetto LIV", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-06-22
Line count: 14
Word count: 112