by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I ey'd, Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold, Have from the forests shook three summers' pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd, In process of the seasons have I seen, Three April perfumes in three hot Augusts burn'd, Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. Ah! yet doth beauty like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure, and no pace perceiv'd; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceiv'd: For fear of which, hear this thou age unbred: Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.
Composition:
- Set to music by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Sonnet CIV", 2010 [ voice and piano ]
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 104
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. 104, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Per me, mio dolce amico, non potrai mai invecchiare", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 117