by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
O from what power hast thou this...
Language: English
O from what power hast thou this powerful might With insufficiency my heart to sway? To make me give the lie to my true sight, And swear that brightness doth not grace the day? Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill, That in the very refuse of thy deeds There is such strength and warrantise of skill That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds? Who taught thee how to make me love thee more The more I hear and see just cause of hate? O, though I love what others do abhor, With others thou shouldst not abhor my state: If thy unworthiness rais'd love in me, More worthy I to be belov'd of thee.
V. Giannini sets lines 9-10
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 150 [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 David Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "O from what power hast thou this powerful might", 1964, published 1967 [high voice and piano], from We Two, no. 5, New York : Southern [text verified 1 time]
- by Vittorio Giannini (1903 - 1966), "O from what power hast thou this powerful might
", copyright © 1953, lines 9-10, from the opera [selections] The Taming of the Shrew, Act III ; New York : Ricordi [text not verified]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet CL", 1866. [medium voice and piano] [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, from Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 150, published 1857
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-08-31
Line count: 14
Word count: 118