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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation © by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Were't aught to me I bore the canopy
Language: English 
Our translations:  ITA
Were't aught to me I bore the canopy,
With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity,
Which proves more short than waste or ruining?
Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
Lose all and more by paying too much rent
For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour,
Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?
No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,
And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mix'd with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
    Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul
    When most impeach'd, stands least in thy control. 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 125 [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 Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CXXV", 1866 [ 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. 125, first published 1857
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 105

A cosa mi gioverebbe reggere il...
Language: Italian (Italiano)  after the English 
A cosa mi gioverebbe reggere il baldacchino
per onorare in modo esteriore ciò che è apparenza sola
o costruire grandi fondamenta per qualcosa di eterno
che si rivela, invece, oggetto di spreco o di rovina?
Non ho forse visto che chi vive di convenzioni o favori
finisce con  il perdere tutto pagando un prezzo troppo elevato
rinunciando, per intrugli più dolci, ai semplici sapori,
penoso arrivista, dallo sguardo perduto?
No, lascia che io sia, del tuo cuore, ossequioso,
ed accogli l’offerta, povera ma senza inganno,
né un secondo fine, falso o artificioso,
ma con reciproco vantaggio, per me e per te soltanto.
Per ciò va’ via da qui, infame delatore!
Un animo onesto, quanto più lo accusi, più sfugge al tuo potere.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2025 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 125
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 122

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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