by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
Translation by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893)
Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi i...
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi i mei veggono 'l ver della beltà ch'aspiro, o s'io l'ho dentro allor che, dov' io miro, veggio più bello el viso di costei. Tu 'l de' saper, po' che tu vien con lei a torm' ogni mie pace, ond' io m'adiro: Nè vorre' manco un minimo sospiro, nè men ardente foco chiederei. La beltà che tu vedi è ben da quella; ma crescie poi ch'a miglior loco sale, se per gli occhi mortali all' alma corre. Quivi si fa divina, onesta e bella, com' a sè simil vuol cosa immortale: Questa, e non quella, a gli occhi tuo' precorre.
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Text Authorship:
- by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 42 [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 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi i mei", op. 145 no. 3, from Suite on verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti, no. 3, also set in Russian (Русский) [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 Anton Schoendlinger.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Abram Markovich Efros (1888 - 1954) ; composed by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "A dialogue with Love", appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878
- FRE French (Français) (Ernest Lafond) (Edmond Lafond) , "Rime no. 42", appears in Dante, Pétrarque, Michel-Ange, Tasse, Sonnets choisis, first published 1848
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sophie Hasenclever) , no title, from Michelangelo: Gedichte und Briefe, first published 1907
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , subtitle: "Sakyk man, meile, negi iš tiesų", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Caroline Diehl
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 107
A dialogue with Love
Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)
Nay, prithee tell me, Love, when I behold
My lady, do mine eyes her beauty see
In truth, or dwells that loveliness in me
Which multiplies her grace a thousandfold?
Thou needs must know; for thou with her of old
Comest to stir my soul's tranquillity;
Yet would I not seek one sigh less, or be
By loss of that loved flame more simply cold. --
The beauty thou discernest, all is hers;
But grows in radiance as it soars on high
Through mortal eyes unto the soul above:
'Tis there transfigured; for the soul confers
On what she holds, her own divinity:
And this transfigured beauty wins thy love.
Text Authorship:
- by John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893), "A dialogue with Love", appears in The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella now for the first time translated into rhymed English, first published 1878 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), appears in Rime, no. 42
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 text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 109