Occhi, un tempo mia vita,
Occhi, di questo cor [dolci]1 sostegni,
Voi mi negate aita?
Questi son ben [della]2 mia morte i segni.
Non più speme, o conforto.
Tempo è [sol]3 di morir, a che più tardo?
Occhi, ch’a sì gran torto
Morir mi fate, a che torcete il guardo?
Forse per non mirar [come]4 v'adoro?
Mirate almen ch'io moro.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Delle opere del cavalier Battista Guarini, Volume 2, Verona, Giovanni Alberto Tumermani, 1737, page 66.

¹ Notari: "fido"
² Notari: "de la"
³ Notari: "ben"
⁴ Notari: "com’io"

Text Authorship:

• by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), no title [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 Angelo Notari (1566 - 1663), "Occhi, un tempo mia vita", published 1613 [2 tenors, theorbo, instrumental ensemble], from Prime musiche nuove à una, due, et tre Voci, per Cantare con la Tiorba, et altri Strumenti, no. 5, London [ sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Italian (Italiano), [adaptation] ; composed by Claudio Monteverdi.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Augen, die mir einst so teuer wie mein Leben", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2016-07-06
Line count: 10
Word count: 64