by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
Translation by Hermann Friedrich Grimm (1828 - 1901)
Quante dirne si de' non si può dire
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Quante dirne si de' non si può dire, chè troppo agli orbi il suo splendor s'accese: Biasmar si può più 'l popol che 'l offese, c'al suo men pregio ogni maggior salire. Questo discese a' merti del fallire, per l'util nostro, e poi a Dio ascese: E le porte che 'l ciel non gli contese, la patria chiuse al suo guisto desire. Ingrata, dico, e della suo fortuna a suo danno nutrice; ond' è ben segnio, c' a' più perfetti abonda di più guai. Fra mille altre ragion sol ha quest' una: Se par non ebbe il suo esilio indegnio, simil uom nè maggior non naqque mai.
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Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 250 [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), "Quante dirne si de' non si può dire", op. 145 no. 7, from Suite on verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti, no. 7, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- 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) , "On Dante Alighieri", 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. 250", appears in Dante, Pétrarque, Michel-Ange, Tasse, Sonnets choisis, first published 1948
- GER German (Deutsch) (Hermann Friedrich Grimm) , "Dante", from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , subtitle: "Tarytum gerbiam, bet garbės tos maža", 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
Dante
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian (Italiano)
Kein Lob erreicht ihn, denn was könnt' ich sagen, Da selbst den Blinden er voll Glanz erschienen? Doch dazu soll die Sprache jetzt mir dienen, Das Volk, das ihn beleidigt, anzuklagen! Ihm, der zum Reich der Seelen, die verloren, Hinabstieg, ihr Geheimnis zu erraten; Ihm, dem die Himmelstore auf sich taten, Verschloss die eigne Vaterstadt die Tore. O Vaterland des Undanks! Dir zum Schaden Hast du ihn ausgestossen! Du, das stets Die Besten mit dem schwersten Schmerz beladen. Nur seinen Namen braucht die Welt zu lesen! Denn ward ein Mann unwürd'ger je verbannt Und ist ein Mann so gross wie er gewesen?
Text Authorship:
- by Hermann Friedrich Grimm (1828 - 1901), "Dante", from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907 [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. 250
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: 102