Is it thy will thy image should keep...
Language: English
Is it thy will thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake;
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake:
For thee watch I whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Buller (1927 - 2004), "Is it thy will thy image should keep open" [ voice, flute, clarinet, string quartet, and harp ], from Of Three Shakespeare Sonnets, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Sonnet LXI", 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet LXI", 1865, rev. 1866 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 121
È per volere tuo che la tua immagine...
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
È per volere tuo che la tua immagine mantiene aperte
le mie pesanti palpebre nella spossante notte?
Desideri forse che il mio sonno sia interrotto,
mentre ombre simili a te ingannano il mio occhio?
È il tuo spirito che da te allontani
tanto lontano da casa a spiare le mie azioni,
per scoprire ogni mio pigro o vergognoso momento,
che della tua gelosia sia bersaglio o alimento?
Oh, no! Il tuo amore, anche se grande, non arriva a tanto:
È il mio amore che tiene i miei occhi aperti;
il mio vero amore che del riposo è tormento,
di me, fatto guardiano notturno a sorvegliarti:
Per te rimango sveglio, mentre tu altrove vegli,
da me lontano mentre altri, troppo vicino, accogli.
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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 121
