by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
Translation by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893)
Quanto si gode, lieta e ben contesta
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Quanto si gode, lieta e ben contesta di fior, sopra' crin d'or d'una, grillanda; che l'altro inanzi l'uno all' altro manda, come ch'il primo sia a baciar la testa! Contenta è tutto il giorno quella vesta che serra 'l petto, e poi par che si spanda; e quel c'oro filato si domanda le guanci, e 'l collo di toccar non resta. Ma più lieto quel nastro par che goda, dorato in punta, con sì fatte sempre, che preme e tocca il petto ch'egli allaccia. E la schietta cintura che s'annoda. Mi par dir seco: qui vo' stringier sempre! Or che farebbon dunche le mie braccia?
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 4 [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), "Quanto si gode, lieta e ben contesta", op. 145 no. 2, from Suite on verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti, no. 2, 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 Willy Kehrer, 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) , "The garland and the girdle", 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) (Guy Laffaille) , "Quelle joyeuse occupation", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Hermann Friedrich Grimm) , no title, from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , subtitle: "Nėra džiugesnio ir mielesnio darbo", 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: 105
The garland and the girdle
Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)
What joy hath yon glad wreath of flowers that is
Around her golden hair so deftly twined,
Each blossom pressing forward from behind,
As though to be the first her brows to kiss!
The livelong day her dress hath perfect bliss,
That now reveals her breast, now seems to bind:
And that fair woven net of gold refined
Rests on her cheek and throat in happiness!
Yet still more blissful seems to me the band
Gilt at the tips, so sweetly doth it ring
And clasp the bosom that it serves to lace:
Yea, and the belt to such as understand,
Bound round her waist, saith: here I'd ever cling.--
What would my arms do in that girdle's place?
Text Authorship:
- by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893), "The garland and the girdle", appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 4
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 119