by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374)
Translation by Francisque Reynard (1835 - ?)
Oimè il bel viso, oimè il soave sguardo
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Our translations: ENG
Oimè il bel viso, oimè il soave sguardo, oimè il leggiadro portamento altero; oimè il parlar ch'ogni aspro ingegno et fero facevi humile, ed ogni huom vil gagliardo! et oimè il dolce riso, onde uscío 'l dardo di che morte, altro bene omai non spero: alma real, dignissima d'impero, se non fossi fra noi scesa sí tardo! Per voi conven ch'io arda, e 'n voi respire, ch'i' pur fui vostro; et se di voi son privo, via men d'ogni sventura altra mi dole. Di speranza m'empieste et di desire, quand'io partí' dal sommo piacer vivo; ma 'l vento ne portava le parole.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 2. Rime In morte di Madonna Laura, no. 267 [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 Spirito l'Hoste da Reggio (c1510 - c1575), "Oimè il bel viso" [ chorus ], madrigal [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643), "Ohimè, il bel viso", published 1614 [ vocal quintet ], from Libro VI de madrigali, no. 6, madrigal [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (A. S. Kline) , no title, copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Francisque Reynard) , "Canzone CCLXVII Oimè il bel viso"
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2007-11-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 102
Canzone CCLXVII Oimè il bel viso
Language: French (Français) after the Italian (Italiano)
Hélas ! le beau visage, hélas ! le suave regard ; hélas ! le gracieux et noble maintien ; hélas ! le parler qui adoucissait l'esprit le plus âpre et le plus farouche, et aurait rendu vaillant l'homme le plus lâche ; Et le doux rire, hélas ! d'où sortit le dard dont je n'espère désormais d'autre bien que la mort ; âme royale, on ne peut plus digne de l'empire, si tu n'étais pas descendue si tard parmi nous ! Il faut que pour vous je brûle et qu'en vous je respire ; car je fus uniquement à vous ; et si de vous je suis séparé, tous les autres malheurs me font bien moins gémir. Vous m'emplîtes d'espérance et de désir quand je m'éloignai de mon suprême bien encore vivant ; mais le vent emportait mes paroles.
Text Authorship:
- by Francisque Reynard (1835 - ?), "Canzone CCLXVII Oimè il bel viso" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 2. Rime In morte di Madonna Laura, no. 267
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: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2011-10-22
Line count: 14
Word count: 126