Edition notes: Source: Das Chorwerk, 77. Notation here is a tone lower. Translation and musica ficta by John Hetland and The Renaissance Street Singers.
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Description: Set on a poem by Petrarch.
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Original text and translations
Italian text
I' vo piangend' i miei passati tempi,
i quai pos' in amar cosa mortale
senza levarm' a volo, havend' io l'ale,
per dar forse di me non bass' essempi.
Tu che ved' i miei mal' indegn' et empi,
re del ciel invisibil' immortale,
soccorr' all' alma desviat' e frale
e'l suo diffetto di tua grati' adempi.
Si che s'io viss' in guerra et in tempesta
mora'n pace et in porto, e se la stanza
fu vana almen sia la partita honesta,
a quel poco di viver che m'avanza
et al morir degn' esser tua man presta,
tu sai ben, ch'in altrui non ho speranza.
Canzoniere 365
English translation
I go lamenting my past times,
which I spent in loving something mortal
without rising to flight, though I have wings,
to make of myself perhaps not a base example.
You who see my evils, unworthy and impious,
king of heaven, invisible, immortal,
give aid to the soul, wandering and frail,
and its defect, by your grace, correct.
So that if I lived in war and in storm,
I may die in peace and in port, and if the sojourn
was vain, at least the departure may be honorable.
For that short time of living left to me,
and to be worthy of dying, lend your hand;
you know well that I have no other hope.