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Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye
And all my soul, and all my every part;
And for this sin there is no remedy,
It is so grounded inward in my heart.
Methinks no face so gracious is as mine,
No shape so true, no truth of such account;
And for myself mine own worth do define,
As I all other in all worths surmount.
But when my glass shows me myself indeed
Beated and chopp'd with tanned antiquity,
Mine own self-love quite contrary I read;
Self so self-loving were iniquity.
'Tis thee, -- myself, -- that for myself I praise,
Painting my age with beauty of thy days.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 62 [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 LXII", 1864-5 [ medium voice or high voice and piano ], first setting, using motives composed c1848 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet LXII", 1866 [ medium voice and piano ], second setting [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. 62, 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: 107
Peccato d'amor proprio è divenuto signore degli occhi miei, dell’anima e d’ogni mio volere e non esiste rimedio per questo peccato, che nel mio cuore si è così ben radicato. Convinto, come sono, che, più bello del mio, non esista sembiante nessuna figura più vera, né verità più importante; E, quanto io valgo, lo decido io stesso, pensando che in ogni cosa tutti gli altri sovrasto. Ma quando il mio specchio chi sono davvero racconta, vinto e ormai disfatto da vecchiezza consunta, Il mio amor proprio lo leggo a ritroso, e amare tanto me stesso, mi appare scandaloso; Sei tu, io stesso, che lodo per me stesso, tu che la mia età abbellisci con la bellezza tua di adesso.
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:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 62
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 119