Así como en la pluma y en la tinta

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by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)

Translation © by Juan Henríquez Concepción

Sonetto XVI

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG FRE LIT SPA

Sì come nella penna e nell'inchiostro
È l'alto e 'l basso e 'l mediocre stile,
E ne' marmi l'immagin ricca e vile,
Secondo che 'l sa trar l'ingegno nostro;
Così, signor mie car, nel petto vostro,
Quante l'orgoglio, è forse ogni atto umile:
Ma io sol quel c'a me proprio è e simile
Ne traggo, come fuor nel viso mostro.
Chi semina sospir, lacrime e doglie,
(L'umor dal ciel terreste, schietto e solo,
A vari semi vario si converte),
Però pianto e dolor ne miete e coglie;
Chi mira alta beltà con sì gran duolo,
Dubbie speranze, e pene acerbe e certe.

Text Authorship:

by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 84 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Sonetto XVI", op. 22 no. 1 (1940), published 1943 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, no. 1 [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 Richard Sturzenegger.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Carl Johengen) , "Sonnet XVI", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "Love and art", from 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) , "Sonnet XVI", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , "Sonetas XVI", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , copyright © 2008, (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: 14
Word count: 102

Así como en la pluma y en la tinta

Language: Spanish (Español) after the Italian (Italiano)

Así como en la pluma y en la tinta
Hay un alto y un bajo y un mediocre estilo, 
Y en los mármoles la imagen rica o vil,
Según sepa tratarlos el ingenio nuestro;
Así, querido señor mío, en el pecho vuestro
Hay tanto orgullo, como quizás tanto acto humilde:
Mas yo sólo lo que me es propio y similar
Saco, como en mi rostro muestro.
Quien siembra suspiros, lágrimas y duelos
(el humor del cielo terrestre, puro y solo,
en varias semillas vario se convierte),
pero llanto y dolor obtendrá en siega;
Quien mira alta beldad con gran daño,
Obtendrá esperanzas, y penas agudas y ciertas.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to Spanish (Español) copyright © 2008 by Juan Henríquez Concepción, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Juan Henríquez Concepción. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
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Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 84
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-11-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 107