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Per mezz'i boschi inhospiti et selvaggi, onde vanno a gran rischio uomini et arme, vo securo io, ché non pò spaventarme altri che 'l sol ch'à d'amor vivo i raggi; 5et vo cantando (o penser' miei non saggi!) lei che 'l ciel non poria lontana farme, ch'i' l'ò negli occhi, et veder seco parme donne et donzelle, et son abeti et faggi. Parme d'udirla, udendo i rami et l'òre 10et le frondi, et gli augei lagnarsi, et l'acque mormorando fuggir per l'erba verde. Raro un silentio, un solitario horrore d'ombrosa selva mai tanto mi piacque: se non che dal mio sol troppo si perde.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 176 [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 Cipriano Rore (1516 - 1565), "Per mezz'i boschi inospiti e selvaggi", 1542 [ vocal quintet ], madrigal [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 text: John Versmoren
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 104
Through the midst of inhospitable, wild woods, where men at arms go at great risk, I go safely, since nothing can frighten me except that sun whose rays are alive with love: and I go singing (oh, my unwise thoughts!) of her whom heaven cannot set distant from me, whom I have in my vision, and seem to see women and girls with her, and they are beech and fir. I seem to hear her, hearing the branches and breeze, and the leaves, and the birds lamenting, and the water murmuring, running through the green grass. Rarely did silence, and solitary awesomeness of shadowy woodland ever please me so: if only too much of my sunlight were not lost.
About the headline (FAQ)
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. 176
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 119