Because she bore Love’s emblems in her aspect

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by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374)

Translation © by A. S. Kline

Perch'al viso d'Amor portava insegna

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG

Perch'al viso d'Amor portava insegna,
mosse una pellegrina il mio cor vano,
ch'ogni altra mi parea d'onor men degna.

Et lei seguendo su per l'erbe verdi,
udí' dir alta voce di lontano:
Ahi, quanti passi per la selva perdi!

Allor mi strinsi a l'ombra d'un bel faggio,
tutto pensoso; et rimirando intorno,
vidi assai periglioso il mio vïaggio;

et tornai indietro quasi a mezzo 'l giorno.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 54 [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 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), no title, copyright © 1934 [ voice and piano ], from Petrarca - Chopin: Tre Madrigali, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Perch'al viso d'amor", 1951/2 [ soprano, tenor, and SATB chorus a cappella ], from Vier Canzonen nach Texten von Petrarca, no. 3, Bärenreiter [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (A. S. Kline) , no title, copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2012-03-06
Line count: 10
Word count: 66

Because she bore Love’s emblems in her...

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Because she bore Love’s emblems in her aspect,
a pilgrim, she vainly moved my heart,
so that all others seemed less worthy of honour.

And I followed her over the green grass:
hearing a loud voice from the distance:
‘Ah, how many steps you lose in this wood!’

I crouched in the shade of a lovely beech,
pensively: and looking all around me,

I saw many dangers on my road:
and turned back, almost at the point of noon.

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. 54
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 10
Word count: 79