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Let me pour forth My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here, For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear, And by this mintage they are something worth. For thus they be Pregnant of thee ; Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more ; When a tear falls, that thou fall'st which it bore ; So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore. On a round ball A workman, that hath copies by, can lay An Europe, Afric, and an Asia, And quickly make that, which was nothing, all. So doth each tear, Which thee doth wear, A globe, yea world, by that impression grow, Till thy tears mix'd with mine do overflow This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so. O ! more than moon, Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere ; Weep me not dead, in thine arms, but forbear To teach the sea, what it may do too soon ; Let not the wind Example find To do me more harm than it purposeth : Since thou and I sigh one another's breath, Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other's death.
Text Authorship:
- by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "A valediction: of weeping" [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: of weeping", published c1957, from Three Love Songs to Words by John Donne , no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Un commiato: del piangere", 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: 27
Word count: 195
Oh, lasciami pur versare lacrime davanti al tuo volto, finché ti sto accanto, perché il tuo volto le conia e recano il tuo stampo e per tal conio hanno un qualche valore. Così ogni mia lacrima è Pregna solamente di te; Frutto di grande pena, e di maggior dolore emblema; E se una lacrima cade, tu, che lei porta, con lei insieme Cadi, sì che tu ed io più nulla allora siamo, e su sponde diverse. Su di un globo rotondo Un artigiano, in copia può rappresentare Europa, Africa e Asia E ben presto fare di ciò, che niente era, il Mondo. Così ogni lacrima è Che rappresenta te; Un globo, anzi un Mondo diviene per la tua impronta Finché il tuo pianto, al mio mischiato, non sommerga, con un flutto che da te viene, questo mondo, e il mio cielo dissolva. Oh, più della luna Non sollevare mari per annegarmi nella tua sfera; Non piangermi morto fra le tue braccia, ma trattieniti Dall'insegnare al mare, ciò che potrebbe fare presto; Né lasciare che il vento Ne ricavi un esempio Per farmi maggior danno di quanto si proponga: poiché tu ed io, sospirando, ci togliamo il respiro a vicenda e chi più sospira è più crudele, ché dell'altro la morte affretta.
Text 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.
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Based on:
- a text in English by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "A valediction: of weeping"
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-21
Line count: 27
Word count: 211
