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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"
- 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
I saw angelic virtue on earth and heavenly beauty on terrestrial soil, so I am sad and joyful at the memory, and what I see seems dream, shadows, smoke: and I saw two lovely eyes that wept, that made the sun a thousand times jealous: and I heard words emerge among sighs that made the mountains move, and halted rivers. Love, Judgement, Pity, Worth and Grief, made a sweeter chorus of weeping than any other heard beneath the moon: and heaven so intent upon the harmony no leaf was seen to move on the boughs, so filled with sweetness were the wind and air.
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Text Authorship:
- Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2002 by A. S. Kline, (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 Francesco Petrarca (1304 - 1374), no title, appears in Canzoniere (Rerum vulgarium fragmenta) , in 1. Rime In vita di Madonna Laura, no. 156
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 104