by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the...
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red, than her lips red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go, -- My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 130 [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 Paavo Heininen (b. 1938), "True and false compare", op. 19 no. 3 (1973), first performed 1979 [ voice and piano ], from Love's Philosophy, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 - 1957), "My mistress' eye", op. 38 (5 Lieder) no. 5 (1948) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Passmore (b. 1954), "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Dark Lady Sonnets , no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXX", 1862-4 [ 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. 130, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Gli occhi della mia donna non sono come il sole", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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: 123