Sonnet XVI | Tout comme dans la plume et l'encre

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by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

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

Sonnet XVI

Language: French (Français) after the Italian (Italiano)

Tout comme dans la plume et l'encre
Il existe un style élevé, bas et médiocre,
Le marbre peut révéler des images riches et viles,
Selon l'art avec lequel nous l'avons façonné ;
Ainsi, mon cher seigneur, dans votre cœur
Il peut y avoir autant d'orgueil que de pensées humbles :
Mais je dessine donc seulement ce qui est propre pour moi,
En accord avec ce que mes traits montrent.
Celui qui verse des soupirs, des larmes et des lamentations,
(La rosée du ciel sur la terre, pure et simple,
Se transforme elle-même en des graines variées),
Moissonnera et récoltera pleurs et tristesse.
Celui qui regarde la beauté élevée avec une grande douleur,
Aura des espoirs pleins de doute et des chagrins certains et amers.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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: 2009-06-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 122