by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374)
Translation by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874)
Pace non trovo, et non ò da far guerra
Language: Italian (Italiano)
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.
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.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Fanny (Franziska) von Hoffnaaß, née Jägerhuber (1831 - 1892) ; composed by Joseph Rheinberger.
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), [adaptation] ; composed by Franz Liszt.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Thomas Wyatt, Sir) , "I find no peace" [an adaptation]
- ENG English (A. S. Kline) , no title, copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Francisque Reynard) , "Sonnet LXXXIX"
- JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Wilson Hidalgo) , "No encuentro paz", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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
Fried' ist versagt mir
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian (Italiano)
Fried' ist versagt mir, vergebens träum' ich Schlachten; muß fürchten und hoffen, entbrennen in Schauern beben, dem stolzen Himmelsfluge folgt tief Verschmachten und kein Erlangen, kein weltenumfangendes Streben! Gefesselt so schwer all mein weichselndes Trachten, schnöd verschmäht darf ich mich nicht der Frohn entheben, der Dämon schont mich, ach, den wohl Bewachten, läßt mich vergehen und mißgönnt mir das Leben. Blöd sind die Blicke, und sie sind stumm, meine Klagen, ich wählte Untergang und fürchte das Sterben, ja, mir blieb Haß für mich selber, da Liebe entwich. Lust ist mir nur mein Schmerz, und Tränen mein Behagen, Tod gilt gleich mir und Leben gleiches Verderben! Also geschah mir, o Geliebte, um dich.
Text Authorship:
- by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
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
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), "Fried' ist versagt mir", S. 270a no. 1 (1843-6), published 1846 [tenor and piano], from Petrarca-Sonette, no. 1, Vienna, Haslinger, also set in Italian (Italiano) [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Virginia Knight
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 112