by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
Translation by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893)
Colui che fece, e non di cosa alcuna
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Colui che fece, e non di cosa alcuna, il tempo, che non era anzi a nessuno, ne fe' d'un due e diè 'l sol alto all'uno, all'altro assai più presso diè la luna. Onde 'l caso, la sorte e la fortuna in un momento nacquer di ciascuno; e a me consegnaro il tempo bruno, come a simil nel parto e nella cuna. E come quel che contrafà se stesso, quando è ben notte, più buio esser suole, ond'io di far ben mal m'affliggo e lagno. Pur mi consola assai l'esser concesso far giorno chiar mia oscura notte al sole che a voi fu dato al nascer per compagno.
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Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 103 [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893) , appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English ; composed by John Mitchell.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) , no title, appears in Michelangelo-Übertragungen ; composed by Anton Schoendlinger.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bettina Jacobson) , "Die Nacht", from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 108
He who ordained
Language: English  after the Italian (Italiano)
He who ordained, when first the world began, Time, that was not before creation's hour, Divided it, and gave the sun's high power To rule the one, the moon the other: Thence fate and changeful chance and fortune's ban Did in one moment down on mortals show'r Dividing them, and took the sun's high power And left the moon darkened alone: To me they portioned darkness for a dower; Dark hath my lot been since I was a man. Myself am ever mine own counterfeit; And as the night grows still more dim and dun, So still more misdoing must I rue: Meanwhile this solace to my soul is sweet, That my black night doth make more clear the sun Which at your birth was given to wait on you.
Text Authorship:
- by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893), appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 103
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "He who ordained", op. 72 no. 4 (1989), from Six Sonnets by Michelangelo, no. 4. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Victoria Brago
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 130