Shakespeare's Sonnets

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Sonnet Dedication Sonnet 1 Sonnet 2 Sonnet 3 Sonnet 4 Sonnet 5 Sonnet 6 Sonnet 7 Sonnet 8 Sonnet 9 Sonnet 10 Sonnet 11 Sonnet 12 Sonnet 13 Sonnet 14 Sonnet 15 Sonnet 16 Sonnet 17 Sonnet 18 Sonnet 19 Sonnet 20 Sonnet 21 Sonnet 22 Sonnet 23 Sonnet 24 Sonnet 25 Sonnet 26 Sonnet 27 Sonnet 28 Sonnet 29 Sonnet 30 Sonnet 31 Sonnet 32 Sonnet 33 Sonnet 34 Sonnet 35 Sonnet 36 Sonnet 37 Sonnet 38 Sonnet 39 Sonnet 40 Sonnet 41 Sonnet 42 Sonnet 43 Sonnet 44 Sonnet 45 Sonnet 46 Sonnet 47 Sonnet 48 Sonnet 49 Sonnet 50 Sonnet 51 Sonnet 52 Sonnet 53 Sonnet 54 Sonnet 55 Sonnet 56 Sonnet 57 Sonnet 58 Sonnet 59 Sonnet 60 Sonnet 61 Sonnet 62 Sonnet 63 Sonnet 64 Sonnet 65 Sonnet 66 Sonnet 67 Sonnet 68 Sonnet 69 Sonnet 70 Sonnet 71 Sonnet 72 Sonnet 73 Sonnet 74 Sonnet 75 Sonnet 76 Sonnet 77 Sonnet 78 Sonnet 79 Sonnet 80 Sonnet 81 Sonnet 82 Sonnet 83 Sonnet 84 Sonnet 85 Sonnet 86 Sonnet 87 Sonnet 88 Sonnet 89 Sonnet 90 Sonnet 91 Sonnet 92 Sonnet 93 Sonnet 94 Sonnet 95 Sonnet 96 Sonnet 97 Sonnet 98 Sonnet 99 Sonnet 100 Sonnet 101 Sonnet 102 Sonnet 103 Sonnet 104 Sonnet 105 Sonnet 106 Sonnet 107 Sonnet 108 Sonnet 109 Sonnet 110 Sonnet 111 Sonnet 112 Sonnet 113 Sonnet 114 Sonnet 115 Sonnet 116 Sonnet 117 Sonnet 118 Sonnet 119 Sonnet 120 Sonnet 121 Sonnet 122 Sonnet 123 Sonnet 124 Sonnet 125 Sonnet 126 Sonnet 127 Sonnet 128 Sonnet 129 Sonnet 130 Sonnet 131 Sonnet 132 Sonnet 133 Sonnet 134 Sonnet 135 Sonnet 136 Sonnet 137 Sonnet 138 Sonnet 139 Sonnet 140 Sonnet 141 Sonnet 142 Sonnet 143 Sonnet 144 Sonnet 145 Sonnet 146 Sonnet 147 Sonnet 148 Sonnet 149 Sonnet 150 Sonnet 151 Sonnet 152 Sonnet 153 Sonnet 154
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Shakespeare's Sonnets
Shakescleare Translation

Shakespeare's Sonnets Translation Sonnet 131

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Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art, As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel; For well thou know’st, to my dear doting heart Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. 5 Yet in good faith some say, that thee behold, Thy face hath not the pow'r to make love groan. To say they err I dare not be so bold, Although I swear it to myself alone; And to be sure that is not false, I swear 10 A thousand groans but thinking on thy face; One on another’s neck do witness bear Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place. In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds, And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.

You are as tyrannous as you are,
As cruel as those whose beauty proudly makes them cruel;
For as you know well, to my tender doting heart,
You are the most beautiful and most precious jewel.
Yet some who have seen you say, in all honesty,
That your face does not have the power to make love itself groan.
I dare not be so bold to say that they are wrong,
Although I swear to myself that you do make love groan;
And to be sure that this is not false, I swear
A thousand groans just by thinking of your face,
Which come one after another, to attest
That your blackness is the most beautiful in my judgment.
You are not black in any way, other than in your actions,
And that is where, I think, this slander against you comes from.

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About the Translator: Suzy Kim

Suzy Kim is a graduate student studying Victorian literature at Brown University. She studied English and Psychology at University of Pennsylvania, and some of her creative work can be found in the upcoming volume of The Graphic Canon: Tales of Crime and Mystery Vol. 1. She is from Seoul, and currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

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