Hawthorne Early Music editions: Canzoniere 365
I' vo piangendo i miei passati tempi
Canzoniere #365 (CCCLXV)
Poetic form: sonnet
I' vo piangendo i miei passati tempi i quai posi in amar cosa mortale, senza levarmi a volo, abbiend'io l'ale, per dar forse di me non bassi exempi. Tu che vedi i miei mali indegni et empi, Re del cielo invisibile immortale, soccorri a l'alma disviata et frale, e 'l suo defecto di tua gratia adempi: sì che, s'io vissi in guerra et in tempesta, mora in pace et in porto; et se la stanza fu vana, almen sia la partita honesta. A quel poco di viver che m'avanza et al morir, degni esser Tua man presta: Tu sai ben che 'n altrui non o speranza. |
I go weeping for my time past, that I spent in loving something mortal, without lifting myself in flight, for I had wings that might have freed me for spaces not so low. You who see my shameful and impious sins, King of Heaven, invisible, immortal, help this frail and straying soul, and mend its defects through your grace: So that, if I have lived in war and tempest, I may die in peaceful harbour: and if my stay was vain, let my vanishing, at least, be virtuous. Deign that your hand might rest on that little life that is left to me, and on my death: You truly know I have no other hope. |
All translations copyrighted by A.S. Kline, and are used with explicit permission.