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As virtuous men pass mildly away, And whisper to their souls to go, Whilst some of their sad friends do say, "Now his breath goes," and some say, "No." So let us melt, and make no noise, No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ; 'Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love. Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears ; Men reckon what it did, and meant ; But trepidation of the spheres, Though greater far, is innocent. Dull sublunary lovers' love -- Whose soul is sense -- cannot admit Of absence, 'cause it doth remove The thing which elemented it. But we by a love so much refined, That ourselves know not what it is, Inter-assurèd of the mind, Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss. Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to aery thinness beat. If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two ; Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th' other do. And though it in the centre sit, Yet, when the other far doth roam, It leans, and hearkens after it, And grows erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must, Like th' other foot, obliquely run ; Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "A valediction: forbidding mourning" [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 Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "A valediction: forbidden mourning", published c1957, from Three Love Songs to Words by John Donne, no. 2. [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Un commiato: vietando il lamento", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-09
Line count: 36
Word count: 240
Come serenamente i giusti spirano, E alle anime loro sussurrano di andare, mentre alcuni, fra i dolenti amici, dicono "respira ancora" ed altri, invece, "muore", Sciogliamoci così, senza fare rumore, senza diluvi di lacrime, o tempestosi sospiri, sarebbe le nostre gioie profanare rivelare ai profani il nostro amore. Il moto della terra reca danni e paure, pondera l'uomo il fatto e cosa rappresenta ma la trepidazione delle sfere, anche se tanto più grande, sempre resta innocente. Dei sublunari amanti l'ottusa voglia - La cui anima è il senso - l'assenza Non ammette, perché questa la spoglia Degli elementi stessi di cui ha sostanza. Ma noi, grazie a un amore così fine Da non saper noi stessi cosa sia, con reciproca, certa, convinzione non ci curiamo che occhi, labbra, mani, vadano via. Le nostre due anime, perciò, che sono una, se pure debbo andare, non patiscono, una frattura, ma trovano espansione, come oro battuto fino alla lama più fina. Se esse sono due, lo sono pure Come le rigide gambe gemelle del compasso; e la tua anima che resta il piede fisso si muove se lo fa l'altra, anche se non appare. E se pure nel suo centro si mantiene, Quando l'altra più lontano si sposta, tutta si piega e attentamente lo segue e si fa dritta solo quando l'altra si accosta. Così sei tu per me, che sono costretto Come l'altra gamba a correre inclinato. La tua fermezza rende il mio cerchio perfetto, E mi fa terminare là dove ho cominciato.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2008 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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 English by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "A valediction: forbidding mourning"
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-21
Line count: 36
Word count: 251