Shall I compare thee to a summer's day

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 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:
  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from 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)

by Lora Aborn (1907-2005) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"
by Julius C. Adams , "Sonnett", 1972, copyright © 1972 [low voice and piano], [sic] for the title
by W. A. Alkin , "Sonnet XVIII", published 1911 [voice and piano], Stainer & Bell
by David Andrews , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 1963, published 1969. [tenor or soprano and piano]
by Edward Applebaum , no title, 1975, published 1982 [soprano, alto, baritone, SSSAAABarBarBar chorus, and chamber orchestra], from Cantata Concertante: "When dreams do show thee me", no. 1.
by Neil Ardley , "Shall I compare thee", 1974, published 1974. [duet for two sopranos and instrumental ensemble]
by Walter Aschaffenburg (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.
by Gary Bachlund , "Sonnet XVIII - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"", 2002 [high or medium voice and piano], from Five Sonnets, no. 2.
by Alan Dudley Bush (1900-1995) , no title, op. 92 no. ? (1980), first performed 1981 [baritone and chamber orchestra], from Two Shakespeare Sonnets, no. ?
by David Leo Diamond (1915-2005) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day", from We Two, no. 1.
by Emma Lou Diemer (1927-) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"
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
by Ernest Gold (1921-) , "Shall I compare thee?"
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.
by C. E. (Charles Edward) Horn (1786-1849) , "Shall I compare thee?", published 1864.
by Frederick Keel (1871-1954) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
by Frederick Kelley (1881-1916) , "Shall I compare thee?", op. 1 no. 1.
by John La Montaine (1920-) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"
by Huub de Lange (1955-) , "Shall I compare thee", published 2005 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Three Shakespeare Songs, no. 2.
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
by Nils Lindberg (1933-) , "Shall I compare thee" [chorus]
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, no. ?, London: Primavera
by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", from Four Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 3.
by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-) , "XVIII (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day)", op. 14 no. 3 (1951?), published 1973? [voice and piano], from Three Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 3.
by Richard Simpson (-1876) , "Sonnet XVIII", 1863-4. [medium voice and piano]
by Claudio Spies , no title, 1976-7, first performed 1978 [satb quartet and piano], from Five Sonnet-Settings, no. 1.
by Ludmilla Ulehla (1923-) , "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"

by Elliot Weisgarber (1919-2001) , "Sonnet III", 1971 [soprano, flute, oboe, harpsichord, violin, viola, and violoncello], from Of Love and Time (Ren-ai To Toki Ni Tsuite), no. 3.

ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani)
FIN Finnish (Erkki Pullinen)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Pitäisikö minun verrata sinua...

Pitäisikö minun verrata sinua kesäpäivään?
Olethan sinä paljon suloisempi ja vakaampikin.
Raat tuulethan ravistavat maahan toukokuun nuput,
ja kesän aika on aivan liian lyhyt.
Joskus taivaan silmä hehkuu liian kuumana
ja joskus sen kultainen loisto himmenee.
Kaikki kaunis menettää aikanaan kauneutensa
sattuman tai luonnollisen kehityksen pakottamana.
Mutta sinun ikuinen kesäsi ei milloinkaan lakastu
eikä koskaan menetä kauneuttasi,
Kuolemakaan ei kersku; vaikka vaellat sen varjossa,
sinä kasvat kiinni aikaan näissä ikuisissa säkeissä
Niin kauan kuin ihmiset hengittävät ja silmät näkevät,
tämä runo elää ja antaa elämän sinullekin.

Translation from English to Finnish copyright © 2009 by Erkki Pullinen (erkki (DOT) pullinen (AT) siba (DOT) fi), (re)printed on this website with kind permission. Please contact the copyright-holder when requesting permission to reprint.

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Sonnets, no. 18 ITA

Date added to the website: 2009-11-05.