by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874)
A woman's face with nature's own hand...
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
A woman's face with nature's own hand painted, Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion; A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted With shifting change, as is false women's fashion: An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; A man in hue all hues in his controlling, Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth. And for a woman wert thou first created; Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting, And by addition me of thee defeated, By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure, Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 20 [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 Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "A woman's face with nature's own hand painted", 1981, published c1982 [tenor and piano], from Widmungen : aus den Sonetten von William Shakespeare, no. 1, Mainz ; New York : Schott [text not verified]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XX", 1864. [baritone and piano] [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, from Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 20, published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Viso di donna, che Natura stessa ha dipinto", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, from Oeuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 20, published 1863
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Tu as un visage de femme, peint de la...
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Tu as un visage de femme, peint de la main de la nature, toi le maître et la maîtresse de ma passion ; tu as le cœur tendre d'une femme, mais tu ne connais pas les inconstances auxquelles la perfidie des femmes est sujette ; tu as les yeux plus brillants qu'elles, mais tu ne les roules pas faussement comme elles, tes regards voient l'objet sur lequel ils se portent ; tu as le teint d'un homme, toutes les nuances sont à ta disposition pour attirer les yeux des hommes et pour surprendre les âmes des femmes. Tu avais d'abord été créé pour être une femme, mais la nature en te façonnant est tombée dans la rêverie, et par ses additions elle m'a privée de toi en ajoutant quelque chose qui ne m'était bon à rien. Mais puisqu'elle t'a destiné à la satisfaction des femmes, que ton amour m'appartienne et qu'elles usent de ton amour comme d'un trésor.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874), no title, appears in Œuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 20, first published 1863 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 20
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2016-05-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 158