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My glass shall not persuade me I am old, So long as youth and thou are of one date; But when in thee time's furrows I behold, Then look I death my days should expiate. For all that beauty that doth cover thee, Is but the seemly raiment of my heart, Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me: How can I then be elder than thou art? O! therefore love, be of thyself so wary As I, not for myself, but for thee will; Bearing thy heart, which I will keep so chary As tender nurse her babe from faring ill. Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain, Thou gav'st me thine not to give back again.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 22 [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 Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Sonnet XXII", 1928 [ tenor or high baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Sonnet XXII", 2007 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "My glass shall not persuade me I am old", 1981, published c1982 [ tenor and piano ], from Widmungen : aus den Sonetten von William Shakespeare, no. 3, Mainz ; New York : Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerard van Hulst , "My glass shall not persuade me I am old", op. 164 (Three Shakespeare-Songs) no. ? (1977) [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XXII", 1864 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Winkler , "Sonnet XXII", 1981 [ soprano and piano ], from Five songs [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. 22, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Non mi convincerà lo specchio ch'io sia invecchiato", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 122
Non mi convincerà lo specchio ch'io sia invecchiato Finché tu e la giovinezza sarete una sola cosa; Ma quando vedrò il tuo volto dalle rughe segnato, Allora porrà fine ai miei giorni una morte attesa. Perché tutta questa bellezza che ti adorna Non è che ricco abbigliamento del mio cuore Che vive nel tuo petto, come il tuo nel mio soggiorna: E come, allora, posso più vecchio di te sembrare? Perciò, amor mio, abbi di te riguardo Come io, non di me, ma di te avrò cura; custodendo il tuo cuore, che terrò sì caro, qual tenera nutrice con la sua creatura. E non contare sul tuo cuore quando il mio sarà spento Non lo donasti per averlo indietro.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2007 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. 22
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 119