We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

lyrics

Five poems by Gaspara Stampa (1523-1554)

Rima XXXIV

Sai tu, perchè ti mise in mano, Amore,
gli stral tua madre, ed agli occhi la benda?
Perchè quella saetti, impiaghi e fenda
i cor di questo e qual fido amatore;
E con questi non possi veder fuore
de' colpi tuoi la crudeltà stupenda,
sí che pietoso affatto non ti renda,
o almen non tempri l'empio tuo furore.
Che, se vedessi un dì la piaga mia,
o non saresti dio, ma cruda fèra,
o pietoso o men aspro ti faria.
Non vorrei già che tu vedessi in cera
i raggi del mio sol; ché ti parria
forse a l'incontro picciola e leggera.

Love, do you know why your fair mother gave you
These arrows to your hands, and bound your eyes?
That you may shoot the first wound and break
The heart of this or any faithful lover;
And tied the blindfold, so you cannot see
dreadful cruelty you have inflicted
So that it will not let you suffer pity,
Or even moderate your impious furor.
For, if you saw one of my dreadful wounds,
You would not be a god, but a wild beast,
Or it might make you tender, or less fierce.
I would not wish you to come face to face
With the rays of my sun; my wound would seem,
Next to his greatness, small and light.

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.

credits

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

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Thomas Oboe Lee image

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

contact / help

Contact Thomas Oboe Lee

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Thomas Oboe Lee, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now