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Signor, se vero è alcun proverbio antico, questo è ben quel, che chi può, mai non vuole. Tu hai creduto a favole e parole, e premiato chi èl del ver nimico. Io sono, e fui già tuo buon servo antico; a te son dato come i raggi al sole; e del mio tempo non t'incresce o duole, e men ti piaccio se più m'affatico. Già sperai ascender per la tuo altezza; e 'l giusto peso, e la potente spada fassi al bisogno, e non la voce d'ecco. Ma 'l cielo è quel ch'ogni virtù disprezza locarla al mondo, se vuol ch'altri vada a prender frutto d'un arbor ch'è secco.
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Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 6 [author's text not yet checked 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 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), no title, op. 145 no. 1 (1974), from Suite on verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti, no. 1, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Abram Markovich Efros (1888 - 1954) ; composed by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "To Pope Julius II", from The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Vérité", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bettina Jacobson) , "An Julius II", from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , subtitle: "Yra teisybės sakmėse senovės", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Caroline Diehl
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 109
Senyor, si ver és algun proverbi antic, és ben bé el que diu que qui pot, mai no vol. Tu has cregut en faules i paraules, i premiat a qui, de la veritat, és enemic. Jo sóc i he estat el teu bon vell servidor; sotmès a tu com els raigs al sol; i del meu temps no et commous ni et dols, i menys et plac quan més m’esforço. Esperava enlairar-me a la teva alçària; que el just balanç i l’espasa potent m’ajudessin, no la veu de l’eco. Però el cel és qui menysté de plaçar tota virtut en el món, vol que hom vagi a prendre el fruit d’un arbre ja sec.
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Text Authorship:
- Translation from Italian (Italiano) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (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 Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 6
This text was added to the website: 2016-02-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 114