by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374)
Translation by Francisque Reynard (1835 - ?)
I' vidi in terra angelici costumi
Language: Italian (Italiano)
I' vidi in terra angelici costumi, E celesti bellezze al mondo sole; Tal che di rimembrar mi giova, e dole: Che quant'io miro, par sogni, ombre, e fumi. E vidi lagrimar que' duo bei lumi, Ch'han fatto mille volte invidia al sole; Ed udì' sospirando dir parole Che farian gir i monti, e stare i fiumi. Amor! senno! valor, pietate, e doglia Facean piangendo un più dolce concento D'ogni altro, che nel mondo udir si soglia. Ed era 'l cielo all'armonia s'intento Che non si vedea in ramo mover foglia. Tanta dolcezza avea pien l'aer e 'l vento.
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Note: sometimes this is erroneously listed as Sonnet 123.Text Authorship:
- by Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 156 [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 Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "I' vidi in terra angelici costumi", S. 270a no. 3 (1843-6), published 1846 [ tenor and piano ], from Tre sonetti di Petrarca, no. 3, Haslinger, Vienna, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rudi Spring (b. 1962), "I' vidi in terraI' vidi in terra", op. 79 no. 2a (2009) [ vocal sextet a cappella (s-3t-bar-b) ], from Zwei Madrigale nach Sonetten an Laura, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874) ; composed by Franz Liszt.
Other 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) , "Sonnet CIV"
- JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Konstanty Gaszyński) , no title, written 1833
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Wilson Hidalgo) , "Vi en la tierra gracia celestial", copyright © 2007, (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: 98
Sonnet CIV
Language: French (Français) after the Italian (Italiano)
J'ai vu sur la terre les angéliques manières et les célestes beautés uniques au monde ; si bien qu'à me les rappeler je me réjouis et je souffre ; car en compa- raison, toutes celles que je vois sont rêve, ombre et fumée. Et j'ai vu pleurer ces deux beaux yeux qui mille fois ont rendu le soleil jaloux ; et j'ai entendu sa bouche dire en soupirant des paroles qui feraient se mouvoir les montagnes et s'arrêter les fleuves. Amour, prudence, valeur, pitié et douleur, faisaient de ces pleurs un concert plus doux que tous ceux qu'on entend d'habitude au monde. Et le ciel était si attentif à cette harmonie, qu'on ne voyait pas une feuille s'agiter sur les branches, tant l'air et la brise étaient imprégnés de sa douceur.
Text Authorship:
- by Francisque Reynard (1835 - ?), "Sonnet CIV" [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 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 156
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: 128