by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
O! never say that I was false of heart
Language: English
O! never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify,
As easy might I from my self depart
As from my soul which in thy breast doth lie:
That is my home of love: if I have rang'd,
Like him that travels, I return again;
Just to the time, not with the time exchang'd,
So that myself bring water for my stain.
Never believe though in my nature reign'd,
All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,
That it could so preposterously be stain'd,
To leave for nothing all thy sum of good;
For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose, in it thou art my all.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 109 [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 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet CIX - O never say that I was false", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 21 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "O never say that I was false of heart", 1888-1906, published 1907 [ medium voice and piano ], from English Lyrics, Seventh Set, no. 4, London : Novello [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CIX", 1863 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ludmilla Ulehla (b. 1923), "O never say that I was false of heart" [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Nikolay Vasilyevich Gerbel (1827 - 1883) , no title ; composed by Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 109, first published 1857
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 116