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Five poems by Gaspara Stampa (1523-1554)

Rima I

Voi, ch'ascoltate in queste meste rime
in questi mesti, in questi oscuri accenti
il suon degli amorosi miei lamenti
e de le pene mie tra l'altre prime,
ove fia chi valor apprezzi e stime,
gloria, non che perdon, de' miei lamenti
spero trovar fra le ben nate genti,
poi che la lor cagion'è sì sublime.
E spero ancor che debba dir qualcuna:
Felicissima lei, da che sostenne
per si chiara cagion danno sì chiaro!
Deh, perchè tant' amor, tanta fortuna
per sì nobil signor a me non venne,
ch'anchio n'andrei con tanta donna a paro?

O you who listen to these mournful verses,
In these unhappy, in these somber accents,
To the sound of laments inspired by Love,
And of my pains, greater than any other,
I hope to find among some well-born people,
Wherever they may be, those who prize honor,
Not only pardon for my tears, but glory,
Because the reason for them is so lofty.
I dare to hope some woman will exclaim:
“Happy is she, she who has undergone
For such a noble cause, sorrow so noble!
Why were not such high fortune, such great love,
Granted to me, and such a splendid lord,
So I could walk as equal to that lady?”

From Gaspara Stampa, Selected Poems.
Edited and translated by Laura Anna Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie. New York: Italica Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Laura Anna Stortoni. Used by permission.

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from Gaspara Stampa (2014), released June 23, 2015

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Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

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