I find no peace, and yet I make no war

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by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374)

Translation © by A. S. Kline

Pace non trovo, et non ò da far guerra

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG JPN LIT SPA

Pace non trovo, et non ò da far guerra;
e temo, et spero; et ardo, et son un ghiaccio;
et volo sopra 'l cielo, et giaccio in terra;
et nulla stringo, et tutto 'l mondo abbraccio.

Tal m'à in pregion, che non m'apre né serra,
né per suo mi riten né scioglie il laccio;
et non m'ancide Amore, et non mi sferra,
né mi vuol vivo, né mi trae d'impaccio.

Veggio senza occhi, et non ò lingua et grido;
et bramo di perir, et cheggio aita;
et ò in odio me stesso, et amo altrui.

Pascomi di dolor, piangendo rido;
egualmente mi spiace morte et vita:
in questo stato son, donna, per voi.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Liszt • J. Rheinberger

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: in the repetition of the final line, Liszt changes "Donna" to "O Laura".

Modernized version used by Liszt and Rheinberger:

Pace non trovo, e non ho da far guerra,
E temo, e spero, ed ardo, e son un ghiaccio:
E volo sopra 'l cielo, e giaccio in terra;
E nulla stringo, e tutto 'l mondo abbraccio.

Tal m'ha in priggion, che non m'apre, nè serra,
Nè per suo mi ritien, nè scioglie il laccio
E non m'ancide Amor, e non mi sferra;
Nè mi vuol vivo, nè mi trahe d'impaccio.

Veggio senz'occhi; e non ho lingua e grido;
E bramo di perir, e cheggio aita;
Ed ho in odio me stesso, ed amo altrui.

Pascomi di dolor, piangendo rido,
Egualmente mi spiace morte e vita,
In questo stato son, Donna, per Voi.

Text Authorship:

by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 134 [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 Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Pace non trovo", S. 270a no. 1 (1842-1846), published 1846 [ tenor and piano ], from Tre sonetti di Petrarca, no. 1, Vienna, Haslinger; confirmed with a 1917 edition by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901), "Sonetto di Petrarca", op. 129 (Drei Gesänge) no. 2 (1882), published 1882 [ high voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874) ; composed by Franz Liszt.
- Go to the text.
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Fanny (Franziska) von Hoffnaaß, née Jägerhuber (1831 - 1892) ; composed by Joseph Rheinberger.
- Go to the text.
Also set in Italian (Italiano), [adaptation] ; composed by Franz Liszt.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Thomas Wyatt, Sir) , "I find no peace" [an adaptation]
FRE French (Français) (Francisque Reynard) , "Sonnet LXXXIX"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 113

I find no peace, and yet I make no war

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

I find no peace, and yet I make no war:
and fear, and hope: and burn, and I am ice:
and fly above the sky, and fall to earth,
and clutch at nothing, and embrace the world.

One imprisons me, who neither frees nor jails me,
nor keeps me to herself nor slips the noose:
and Love does not destroy me, and does not loose me,
wishes me not to live, but does not remove my bar.

I see without eyes, and have no tongue, but cry:
and long to perish, yet I beg for aid:
and hold myself in hate, and love another.

I feed on sadness, laughing weep:
death and life displease me equally:
and I am in this state, lady, because of you.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2002 by A. S. Kline, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 134
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 126