by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1850 - 1916)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Language: English
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: [Sometime]1 too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to [time thou growest]2: [So long]3 as men [can]4 breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
J. Dankworth sets lines 1-8
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Wilkinson: "Sometimes"
2 Aikin: "times thou grow'st"
3 Wilkinson: "As long"
4 Aikin: "shall"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 18 [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 Lora Aborn (1907 - 2005), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius C. Adams , "Sonnett", 1972, copyright © 1972 [ low voice and piano ], [sic] for the title [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Arthur Aikin (1857 - 1939), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", published 1911 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet ; Stainer & Bell [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Andrews , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 1963, published 1969 [ tenor or soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edward Applebaum (b. 1937), no title, 1975, published 1982 [ soprano, alto, baritone, SSSAAABarBarBar chorus, and chamber orchestra ], from Cantata Concertante: "When dreams do show thee me", no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Neil Ardley , "Shall I compare thee", 1974, published 1974 [ duet for 2 sopranos and instrumental ensemble ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Walter Aschaffenburg (b. 1927), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day ", op. 14 no. 1 (1966-7), first performed 1967 [ tenor and piano ], from Three Shakespeare Sonnets, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Sonnet XVIII - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"", 2002 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from Five Sonnets, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Melinda Bargreen , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day", 2017 [ tenor or baritone and piano ], from In Fields Where Roses Fade, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Dudley Bush (1900 - 1995), no title, op. 92 no. 1 (1980), first performed 1981 [ baritone and chamber orchestra ], from Two Shakespeare Sonnets, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851 - 1935), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", published 1898, London: Ashdown [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sonnet XVIII - Shall I compare", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 2 (1944-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Sonnet XVIII", 2005 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Philip William Dankworth (1927 - 2010), "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day", 1964, lines 1-8 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day", 1964, published 1967 [ high voice and piano ], from We Two, no. 1, New York : Southern [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day", 1972-3 [ high voice and piano ], from A Miscellany of Love Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), no title, 1981, published c1982 [ tenor and piano ], from Widmungen : aus den Sonetten von William Shakespeare, no. 4, Mainz ; New York : Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Gold (1921 - 1999), "Shall I compare thee?" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph R. Guenther , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 1960, first performed 1961 [ soprano, flute, and violoncello ], from Two Shakespearean Sonnets, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 2000, first performed 2001 [ baritone and piano ], from Love's Pilgrimage -- 5 songs for Baritone and Piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by C. E. (Charles Edward) Horn (1786 - 1849), "Shall I compare thee?", published 1864 [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick Kelley (1881 - 1916), "Shall I compare thee?", op. 1 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick Septimus Kelly (1881 - 1916), "Shall I compare thee", op. 1 (Two Songs) (1901), published 1912 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John La Montaine (1920 - 2013), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Shall I compare thee", published 2005 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Shakespeare Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Noël Lee (1924 - 2013), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 1996 [ bass-baritone, clarinet, horn, and contrabass ], from Sonnets de soleil, de sanglots - Four Songs from Shakespeare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "Sonnetina #5", op. 45 (1978) [ tenor or soprano with viola/clarinet/harp/guitar/marimba ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kenneth Leighton (1929 - 1988), no title, from 5 Shakespeare Songs, no. 2, available from the Kenneth Leighton Trust, e-mail jo (DOT) leighton (AT) blueyonder (DOT) co (DOT) uk [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Stefan Lienenkämper , "Sonett 18", published 2006 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Vier Lieder nach Sonetten von W. Shakespeare, no. 3, Helmstadt : HH Musikverlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nils Lindberg (b. 1933), "Shall I compare thee" [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Enid Luff , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 1978, published 1980, first performed 1978 [ mezzo-contralto solo, violin or flute, and piano ], from Three Shakespeare Sonnets, London: Primavera [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968), "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's Day", 2016, first performed 2016 [ soprano, cello and piano ], from Summer to Winter, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", from Four Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928 - 2016), "XVIII (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day)", op. 14 no. 3 (1952), published 1973, first performed 1953 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet XVIII", 1863-4 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carlos Claudio Spies (1925 - 2020), no title, 1976-7, first performed 1978 [ satb quartet and piano ], from Five Sonnet-Settings, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ludmilla Ulehla (b. 1923), "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Eternal summer" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Zane Randall Stroope.
- Also set in Japanese (日本語), a translation by Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859 - 1935) ; composed by Elliot Weisgarber.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Nikolay Vasilyevich Gerbel (1827 - 1883) , no title ; composed by Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 18, first published 1857
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, appears in Œuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 18, first published 1863
- GER German (Deutsch) (Ludwig Reinhold Walesrode) , first published 1840
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Dovrei paragonarti ad un giorno d'estate?", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky) , "Сонет 18", written 1914
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Sonet 18
Language: Russian (Русский) after the English
Sravnyu li ya tebya s vesennim dnem? Net, ty' milee dlitel`noj krasoyu: Zloj vixr` igraet nezhny'm lepestkom, Vesna proxodit kratkoj polosoyu. Svetilo dnya to shlet chrezmerny'j znoj, To vdrug skry'vaetsya za tuchej mrachnoj… Net krasoty', chto, strogoj cheredoj Il` sluchaem, ne stala by' nevzrachnoj. Tvoya zh vesna ne vedaet tenej, I vechny'j blesk ee ne uvyadaet. Net, dazhe smert` bessil`na pered nej! Na vse veka tvoj obraz prosiyaet. Poka est` v lyudyax chuvstva i mechty', Zhivet moj stix, a vmeste s nim i ty'!
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Text Authorship:
- by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1850 - 1916), "Сонет 18", written 1914 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 18
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 84