Wainwright, Rufus - Sonnet 20 Lyrics






A woman's face with nature's own hand painted
Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion
A woman's gentle heart but not acquainted
With shifting change as is false women's fashion

An eye more bright than theirs less false in rolling
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth
A man in hue all hues in his controlling
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth

And for a woman wert thou first created
Till Nature as she wrought thee fell a-doting
And by addition me of thee defeated
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing

But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure
Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure





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Wainwright, Rufus Sonnet 20 Comments
  1. I.... M....

    My favourite sonnet set to music by a superstar

  2. A.... C....

    Saw him in Glasgow in April such talent I think he's fabulous x

  3. N.... H....


    Like Your natural expression, tenderness and melancholy..

  4. V.... V....

    You know when you hear people say "that boy has got the voice of an angel". If they were talking about Rufus they could just be right for once.

  5. d.... p....

    Beautiful Voice superboys salotto performance the best anytime

  6. S.... A....

    A perfect sonnet

  7. L.... b....

    Une voix magique..un grand artiste Ruffus...😘😊

  8. x.... ....

    WOW ! My Wife and I saw Saw Rufus with the St Louis Symphony tonight. (Our Valentines gift to selves)
     This was no -  "pop vocalist sings with symphony"  trope.
    The SLSO arraignments where seamless, complementary and exciting. This combined performance was truly beyond all my expectations - musical excellence on the highest level.
     I was literally awestruck on some of the events in the performance tonight and now feverently hope this gets released as:    "Rufus Wainwright LIVE with the SLSO  2/16/18"  .
    I for one will be the 1st in line for that CD!

    x.... ....

    xPump, I was at that performance - flew up from SW Florida on February 15, and home on the 17th. I have seen him perform 50+ times, from Florida to Europe to Saint Louis, Canada, and Sioux Falls. In my opinion, Rufus never disappoints and I always want more.

    I saw him last in December at Noel Nights in Montreal twice and I’ll see him next in Amsterdam in April.

  9. d.... p....

    Rufus:👌👍👏♬♫♪⛥❤👧❗

  10. S.... F....

    Thought to be written by Shakespeare about his patron (and possible lover) the Earl of Southampton.

  11. M.... E....

    Soulful and very beautiful words sincerely sung

  12. P.... G....

    I've heard him sing this live and you could hear a pin drop everyone was just THAT captivated. It was phenomenal, watching him live is like a spiritual experience.

    P.... G....

    Paul G Agreed! I saw him some years ago at the Paramount in Austin, and I’m still moved just thinking about it.

    P.... G....

    Agreed! Best live artist I have EVER seen.

    P.... G....

    @Sage Woodward It was a dream come true for me.. saw him this year in Malaga.. sigh.. I was on a Rufus high for about a week after.

    P.... G....

    @Salobrena Smith I'm actually seeing him in Scottsdale, AZ this October! So. Fucking. Excited.

    P.... G....

    Saw him Glasgow not disappointed the man us phenomenal performer

  13. N.... Z....

    Shakespeare? Neruda? Sorry... I don't understand english very well...  

    N.... Z....

    +Noé Zamora Mejía, it´s a Shakespeare's sonnet:

    A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted 
    Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion; 
    A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted 
    With shifting change, as is false women's fashion;
    An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
    Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; 
    A man in hue, all hues in his controlling,
    Much steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
    And for a woman wert thou first created; 
    Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
    And by addition me of thee defeated, 
    By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
    But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,
    Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.

  14. m.... ....

    beautiful and so true!

  15. H.... C....

    Love you rufus :) always sound beautiful, soulful, sonorous, existential

    H.... C....

    louden wainwright duets

  16. E.... G....

    Eb G Bb x12
    D F G Bb x4
    C Eb G Bb x4
    Bb D G x4
    Ab C F x4
    G Bb Eb x4
    F Ab C Eb x4
    Bb D F Ab x8
    repeat from the beginning
    Eb G Bb x4
    Db F G Bb x4
    C E G Bb x4
    B D# F# A x4
    repeat that section
    Bb D F Ab x8
    then back to the beginning, play first 4 lines again.

    E.... G....

    Eniko Gaspar gracias

    E.... G....

    Gracias. Es muy amable por tu parte compartir esto. Abrazo

    E.... G....

    You're the best, thank you!!

  17. M.... W....

    What a beautiful song!

  18. r.... h....

    Can someone please tell me the chords??

  19. g.... ....

    The way you spelt "else" was a most fascinating one.

  20. S.... W....

    Candy behind the counter....... Why, God?

  21. A.... N....

    You were absolutely amazing in Santa Barbara last night <3 This song particularly stood out. So beautiful and moving, thank you

  22. M.... d....

    Pure poetry!

  23. g.... ....

    Why does his sexual orientation even need to be an issue? The guy's an amazing talent...period!

    g.... ....

    Sonnet 20 is one of the sonnets that lead people to think that at least some of the poems are addressed to a a male object of the poet's love, if not an actual lover. Personally, I find tihs one fairly overt, with the master-mistress of my passion line, and the last six lines of the sonnet. "And for a womaqn wert thou first created" etc.

    It's fairly well established that Rufus is gay, given that he's maried to a bloke. So this sonnet will almost certainly have touched him especially. HIs sexual orientation is an issue because it allows him to identify with the subject of the sonnet. Get off your prickly right-wing horse and think about learning something from peope who are not you.

  24. A.... P....

    Excellent music for Shakespeare! Excellent singer and composer, love u Rufus.

  25. C.... H....

    im happy hes gay. or ells he would have taken all the good girls with hes heavenly voice. and left us mediocre guys empty handed.

  26. B.... B....

    , God this guy is the bizz, A voice given by god and the generousity to share it to us mortal souls. xxxxxxxx

  27. S.... B....

    This is all that is good about humanity.

  28. O.... E....

    But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,
    Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.<33

  29. E.... g....

    The sonnet his is about to go into at the end of the video is genius!!

  30. s.... ....

    @smartyeh Yeah, that did seem to end very sudden, wth?

  31. d.... e....

    @Zeno931 when you have his amount of talent you could sing a nurser rhyme and it would be brilliant . the man is agenius.

  32. s.... ....

    at 2:50
    does the music end? or it just be cut ?
    hope someone can share the complete version . :)

  33. a.... ....

    only rufus could turn a sonnet into a song

  34. j.... ....

    SickNewMusicArtist. com
    Good jam!!

  35. J.... P....

    Who cares if he's gay? He makes great music.

    J.... P....

    Jennifer Peak stop at “who cares if he is gay.”

  36. L.... ....

    Long live Shakespeare!

  37. b.... ....

    @DemoraX So agree with you. Treasure is a good choice of a word.

  38. R.... ....

    @ForeverKatie Guessing so, since Rufus is gay.

  39. R.... J....

    a beautiful piece of treasure ontop of the pile of trash music we have today :)

  40. K.... D....

    Does he know that this Sonnet pertains to Shakespeare's love for a man???

    K.... D....

    Katie Daubert, he certainly does.

    K.... D....

    No doubt he does.

  41. O.... ....

    Dear Vevo, Let me start by saying get your corporate asses off YouTube! Ever since these big companies started paying off YouTube so they could post their freaking videos we can't post ours. We are flagged for infringement every time we include a song we like in our videos.

    This is YOUtube, the place where we can post OUR videos. If we wanted to listen to music from you wed go to your damn website.To all people who want greedy corporates gone copy and paste this

  42. A.... ....

    This song always gives me goosebumps. It's so beautiful. this is also one of my favourite poems!

  43. r.... m....

    listen to it over and over again, love it

  44. r.... m....

    love love love it so much......THANK YOU

  45. J.... H....

    My absolute favourite at the moment - hands down! Such talent and such an awesome mix of audacity and vulnerability.... so glad I discovered his work.

  46. N.... P....

    LOVE LOVE LOVE RUFUS

  47. 7.... ....

    Going to see him in 10 days! :)

  48. m.... ....

    beautiful...

  49. R.... A....

    Belíssimo como sempre :)

  50. I.... M....

    This is beautiful as usual. Does Rufus look like John Stamos in this or am i nuts?

    I.... M....

    Ian Monaco, I don’t know who he looks like, only that he is beautiful.

  51. J.... C....

    AMO A ESTE CABRON, SIMPLEMENTE LO AMO...

  52. t.... b....

    love it

  53. M.... ....

    Wow Dude! This song is perfect. Great Rufus.

  54. S.... ....

    amazing!!!!

  55. C.... M....

    Rufus has a unique talent. It's hard to put into words. It's a mixture of honesty,natural ability and good old fashion hard work. If he ever gets fed up of touring, he should take up teaching.

  56. N.... ....

    This is my favourite song on the new album. A beloved sonnet takes on new life and a whole new level of melancholy. Perfection. ♥

  57. t.... ....

    Such a singer. With his help I can go places that I couldn't go alone. Thanks

    t.... ....

    That's great. Best of luck. I think you picked a good guide.