by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
Translation by Bettina Jakobson
Chiunche nasce a morte arriva
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Our translations: FRE
Chiunche nasce a morte arriva
nel fuggir del tempo; e 'l sole
niuna cosa lascia viva.
Manca il dolce e quel che dole
e gl'ingegni e le parole;
e le nostre antiche prole
al sole ombre, al vento un fummo.
Come voi uomini fummo1,
lieti e tristi, come siete;
[e or siàn]2, come vedete,
terra al sol, di vita priva.
Ogni cosa a morte arriva.
Già fur gli occhi nostri interi
con la luce in ogni speco;
or son voti, orrendi e neri,
e ciò porta il tempo seco.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 sometimes modernized to "fumo"
2 Dallapiccola: "Ed or siam"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
1 sometimes modernized to "fumo"
2 Dallapiccola: "Ed or siam"
Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 21 [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 Luigi Dallapiccola (1904 - 1975), "Chiunche nasce a morte arriva", 1949, from Tre poemi, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Nathan Haskell Dole (1852 - 1935) [an adaptation] ; composed by Joseph Kaufer.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Walter Heinrich Robert-Tornow (1852 - 1895) [an adaptation] ; composed by Hans Erich Pfitzner, Hugo Wolf.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Bettina Jakobson ; composed by Josef Schelb.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Tout ce qui est né arrive à la mort", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 93
Gesang der Toten
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian (Italiano)
Wer geboren wird muß sterben In der Zeiten Flucht; die Sonne Duldet jegliches Verderben. Schnell vergehen Leid und Wonne. Geist und Wort sind bald verloren; Alle, die nach uns geboren, Schatten sind sie, leichter Rauch. Menschen waren wir ja auch. Froh und traurig so wie ihr, Und ihr seht, nun sind wir hier, Mußten schon zu Staub verderben, Alle Wesen müssen sterben. Unsre Augen konnten schauen Aus den Höhlen voll und hell; Heute sind sie leer voll Grauen, Denn die Zeit entführte schnell.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 21
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Josef Schelb (1894 - 1977), "Gesang der Toten", op. 5 no. 1 (1917), published 1920 [voice and piano], from Drei Sonette Michelangelos, no. 1. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Dr. Albert Schelb
This text was added to the website: 2008-04-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 83