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Aspro core et selvaggio, et cruda voglia in dolce, humile, angelica figura, se l'impreso rigor gran tempo dura, avran di me poco honorata spoglia; ché quando nasce et mor fior, herba et foglia, quando è 'l dí chiaro, et quando è notte oscura, piango ad ognor: ben ò di mia ventura, di madonna et d'Amore onde mi doglia. Vivo sol di speranza, rimembrando che poco humor già per continua prova consumar vidi marmi et pietre salde. Non è sí duro cor che, lagrimando, pregando, amando, talor non si smova, né sí freddo voler, che non si scalde.
R. de Lassus sets lines 9-14
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. 265 [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 Roland de Lassus (1532 - 1594), "Vivo sol di speranza", lines 9-14 [sung text checked 1 time]
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 page: Laura Massa
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 97
Her savage bitter heart, and cruel will, beneath a sweet, humble, angelic form, however much they retain their severity, gain slight honour from me as their prize: when the flowers, the grasses and the leaves are new born, and when they die again, in broad day and darkest night, I weep on, since fate, Love, and my lady bring me grief. I only live on hope, remembering I’ve seen a little water’s constant flow wear away marble and the solid stone. No heart’s so hard that tears, prayers, love, can’t sometimes move it, no will so cold that it can’t be warmed.
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.
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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. 265
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 102