by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
O come se' gentile
Language: Italian (Italiano)
O come [se']1 gentile, caro augellino! O quanto è il mio stato amoroso al tuo simìle! [Tu prigion, io prigion]2; tu canti, io canto; tu canti per colei che t'ha legato, ed io canto per lei. Ma in questo è differente la mia sorte dolente: che giova pur a te l'esser canoro; vivi cantando, ed io cantando moro.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Monteverdi: "sei"
2 Monteverdi: "Io prigion, tu prigion"
Authorship:
- by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), "Avventuroso augello", appears in Rime, no. 52, first published 1598 [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 Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643), "O come sei gentile, caro augellino", published 1619 [chorus], from Libro VII de madrigali, no. 4, madrigal [ sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, adapted by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title FRE GER ; composed by John Danyel.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Oh, how gentle you are", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Wie sanft du bist", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-03-26
Line count: 10
Word count: 58
Thou pretty bird, how do I see
Language: English  after the Italian (Italiano)
Thou pretty bird, how do I see Thy silly state and mine agree, For thou a prisoner art So is my heart. Thou sing'st to her, and so do I address My music to her ear that's merciless. But herein doth the difference lie, That thou art grac'd, so am not I; Thou singing liv'st, And I must singing die.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), "Avventuroso augello", appears in Rime, no. 52, first published 1598
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Danyel (1564 - 1626), "Thou pretty bird, how do I see", published 1606 [voice, viol, lute], from the collection Songs for the Lute, Viol and Voice [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-10-19
Line count: 10
Word count: 60