by Gaspara Stampa (c1523 - c1554)
Translation © by John Plant

Sonetto di Gaspara Stampa
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Rimandatemi il cor, empio tiranno,
ch'a si gran torto avete ed istraziate
e di lui e di me quel proprio fate
che le tigri e i leon di cerva fanno.
Son passati otto giorni, a me un anno 
ch'io non ho vostre lettere od imbasciate, 
contra la fè che voi m'avete date,
o fonte di valor, conte, e d'inganno.

Credete ch'io sia Ercol o Sansone
a poter sostener tanto dolore,
giovane e donna e fuor d'ogni ragione, 
massime essendo qui senza 'l mio core 
e senza voi a mia difensione
onde mi suol venir forza e vigore?

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (John Plant) , copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-03-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 97

Send my heart back to me, wicked tyrant
Language: English  after the Italian (Italiano) 
Send my heart back to me, wicked tyrant,
which so wrongly you possess and tear to pieces, 
doing to it and to me precisely
what tigers and lions do to deer.
Eight days have passed - a year to me -
in which I have had no letters or messages from you, 
contrary to the pledges you gave me,
O fount of valour, count, and of deception.

Do you think I am Hercules or Samson,
to be able to withstand so much pain, 
young, and a woman, and out of my mind, 
and above all here without my heart,
and without you to come to my defense - 
you, the source of my strength and my vigor?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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 page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-03-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 114