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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art
 (Sung text for setting by J. Andriessen)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. 
Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan:
To say they err I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to myself alone. 
And to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face,
One on another's neck, do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place. 
  In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
  And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.

Composition:

    Set to music by Juriaan Andriessen (1925 - 1996), "Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art", from Thy black is fairest, 3 Shakespeare-sonnets, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 131

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 131, first published 1857


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: 119

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