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A che più debb'io mai l'intensa voglia Sfogar con pianti o con parole meste, Se di tal sorte 'l ciel, che l'alma veste, Tard' o per tempo, alcun mai non ne spoglia? A che 'l cor lass' a più [morir]1 m'invoglia, S'altri pur dee morir? Dunque per queste Luci l'ore del fin fian men moleste; Ch'ogn' altro ben val men ch'ogni mia doglia. Però se 'l colpo, ch'io ne rub' e 'nvolo, Schifar non poss'; almen, s'è destinato, Ch entrerà 'nfra la dolcezza e 'l duolo? Se vint' e pres' i' debb'esser beato, Maraviglia non è se nud' e solo, Resto prigion d'un Cavalier armato.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 K. Sorabji: "languir"
Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 98 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Sonetto XXXI", op. 22 no. 2 (1940), published 1943 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "A che più debb'io mai l'intensa voglia", KSS 36 no. 3 (1923), published 2005, first performed 1980 [ voice and orchestra ], from Cinque sonetti di Michelagniolo Buonarroti, no. 3, Bath: The Sorabji Archive, critical edition [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Carl Johengen) , "Sonnet XXXI", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "To Tommaso de' Cavalieri: Love's lordship", from The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "What point is there in still giving vent to my intense longing", written 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Sonnet XXXI", copyright © 2015, (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) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 106
What point is there in still giving vent to my intense longing With tears or sad words, If heaven, which dresses the soul, Neither late nor early spares one from such a fate? What point is there in my weary heart bidding me to languish more, If all must die? The last hours, then[,] ill trouble my eyes less; Nothing else is to any avail compared with all my suffering. So[,] if I cannot ward off the disappointment that I rob and steal away, Inasmuch as it is destined, Who will intervene between sweetness and sorrow? If, as one vanquished and taken prisoner, I should be blessed, It is no wonder that[,] defenceless and alone I remain the prisoner of a knight in arms.
Confirmed with an original Microsoft Word Document provided by Alistair Hinton.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hopkins (1952 - 2007), "What point is there in still giving vent to my intense longing", written 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 98
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 124