by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
Translation by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi i...
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi i mei veggono 'l ver della beltà ch'aspiro, o s'io l'ho dentro allor che, dov' io miro, veggio più bello el viso di costei. Tu 'l de' saper, po' che tu vien con lei a torm' ogni mie pace, ond' io m'adiro: Nè vorre' manco un minimo sospiro, nè men ardente foco chiederei. La beltà che tu vedi è ben da quella; ma crescie poi ch'a miglior loco sale, se per gli occhi mortali all' alma corre. Quivi si fa divina, onesta e bella, com' a sè simil vuol cosa immortale: Questa, e non quella, a gli occhi tuo' precorre.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 42 [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 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi i mei", op. 145 no. 3, from Suite on verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti, no. 3, also set in Russian (Русский) [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 Anton Schoendlinger.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Abram Markovich Efros (1888 - 1954) ; composed by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "A dialogue with Love", appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878
- FRE French (Français) (Ernest Lafond) (Edmond Lafond) , "Rime no. 42", appears in Dante, Pétrarque, Michel-Ange, Tasse, Sonnets choisis, first published 1848
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sophie Hasenclever) , no title, from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , subtitle: "Sakyk man, meile, negi iš tiesų", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Caroline Diehl
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 107
Sag mir, Amor, sehn meine Augen denn
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian (Italiano)
Sag mir, Amor, sehn meine Augen denn Wahrheit des Schönen, das ich so erstrebe ; ist es in mir nur, wenn ich sie erhebe zum Angesicht der fast Gemeißelten? Du mußt es wissen, denn du kommst mit ihr die Ruh mir nehmen. Ich hab Grund zu grollen. Doch würd ich keinen Seufzer weniger wollen, noch minder glühend diese Glut in mir: -- die Schönheit, die du siehst, gehört ihr zwar, doch wächst sie, da sie steigt zum bessern Ort, und wird vom Auge bis zur Seele mehr. Ewiges nimmt nur seines Gleichen wahr. So wird sie göttlich, schön und ehrlich dort. Die und nicht jene wandelt vor dir her.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Übertragungen, Insel-verlag, 1927, p242
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Michelangelo-Übertragungen [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. 42
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Anton Schoendlinger (1919 - 1983), "Sag mir Amor sehn meine Augen", 1980 [ tenor, viola, flute and harpsichord ], from Fünf Sonette; Michelangelo Buonarroti; Deutsche Nachdichtung von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-11-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 107