Sonnet LV | Tu sais que je sais, mon seigneur, que tu sais

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by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Tu sa, ch'io so, signor mie, che tu sai

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG FRE LIT SPA

Tu sa, ch'io so, signor mie, che tu sai
Ch'i [veni]¹ per goderti più da presso;
E sai ch'i' so, che tu sa' c'i' son desso:
A che più indugio a salutarci omai?
Se vera è la speranza che mi dai,
Se vero è 'l [buon]² desio che m'è concesso,
Rompasi il mur fra l'uno e l'altro messo;
Chè doppia forza hann' i celati guai.
S'i' amo sol di te, signor mie caro,
Quel che di te più ami, non ti sdegni;
Che l'un dell'altro spirto s'innamora,
Quel che nel tuo bel volto bramo e 'mparo,
E mal compres' è degli umani ingegni,
Chi 'l vuol [veder]³, convien che prima mora.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• K. Sorabji

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ K. Sorabji: "vengo"
² K. Sorabji: "gran"
³ K. Sorabji: "saper"

Text Authorship:

by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 60 [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 LV", op. 22 no. 4 (1940), published 1943 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, no. 4, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "Tu sa, ch'io so, signor mie, che tu sai", KSS 36 no. 1 (1923), published 2005, first performed 1980 [ voice and orchestra ], from Cinque sonetti di Michelagniolo Buonarroti, no. 1, Bath: The Sorabji Archive, critical edition [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) , no title, appears in Michelangelo-Übertragungen ; composed by Richard Sturzenegger.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "Love's entreaty", appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878

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: 111

Sonnet LV

Language: French (Français) after the Italian (Italiano)

Tu sais que je sais, mon seigneur, que tu sais
Que je suis venu plus près pour te réjouir.
Et tu sais que je sais que tu sais que je suis constant.
Pourquoi alors hésité-je plus à te saluer ?
Si l'espoir que tu me donnes est vrai,
Si le grand désir qui m'est accordé est vrai,
Que le mur entre l'un et l'autre soit brisé ;
Car les chagrins secrets ont double force.
Si j'aime seulement en toi, mon bien-aimé,
Ce que tu aimes le plus, ne te fâche pas ;
Car l'esprit de l'un est ainsi amoureux de l'autre.
Ce que je cherche à saisir dans ton beau visage,
Est mal compris par l'humanité,
Et celui qui veut le voir doit d'abord mourir.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 60
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-08-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 122