登陆注册
5419700000301

第301章

Italy! Italy! thou who'rt doomed to wear The fatal gift of beauty, and possess The dower funest of infinite wretchedness Written upon thy forehead by despair;Ah! would that thou wert stronger, or less fair.

That they might fear thee more, or love thee less, Who in the splendor of thy loveliness Seem wasting, yet to mortal combat dare!

Then from the Alps I should not see descending Such torrents of armed men, nor Gallic horde Drinking the wave of Po, distained with gore, Nor should I see thee girded with a sword Not thine, and with the stranger's arm contending, Victor or vanquished, slave forever more.

SEVEN SONNETS AND A CANZONE

[The following translations are from the poems of Michael Angelo as revised by his nephew Michael Angelo the Younger, and were made before the publication of the original text by Guasti.]

I

THE ARTIST

Nothing the greatest artist can conceive That every marble block doth not confine Within itself; and only its design The hand that follows intellect can achieve.

The ill I flee, the good that I believe, In thee, fair lady, lofty and divine, Thus hidden lie; and so that death be mine Art, of desired success, doth me bereave.

Love is not guilty, then, nor thy fair face, Nor fortune, cruelty, nor great disdain, Of my disgrace, nor chance, nor destiny, If in thy heart both death and love find place At the same time, and if my humble brain, Burning, can nothing draw but death from thee.

II

FIRE

Not without fire can any workman mould The iron to his preconceived design, Nor can the artist without fire refine And purify from all its dross the gold;Nor can revive the phoenix, we are told, Except by fire.Hence if such death be mine I hope to rise again with the divine, Whom death augments, and time cannot make old.

O sweet, sweet death! O fortunate fire that burns Within me still to renovate my days, Though I am almost numbered with the dead!

If by its nature unto heaven returns This element, me, kindled in its blaze, Will it bear upward when my life is fled.

III

YOUTH AND AGE

Oh give me back the days when loose and free To my blind passion were the curb and rein, Oh give me back the angelic face again, With which all virtue buried seems to be!

Oh give my panting footsteps back to me, That are in age so slow and fraught with pain, And fire and moisture in the heart and brain, If thou wouldst have me burn and weep for thee!

If it be true thou livest alone, Amor, On the sweet-bitter tears of human hearts, In an old man thou canst not wake desire;Souls that have almost reached the other shore Of a diviner love should feel the darts, And be as tinder to a holier fire.

IV

OLD AGE

The course of my long life hath reached at last, In fragile bark o'er a tempestuous sea, The common harbor, where must rendered be Account of all the actions of the past.

The impassioned phantasy, that, vague and vast, Made art an idol and a king to me, Was an illusion, and but vanity Were the desires that lured me and harassed.

The dreams of love, that were so sweet of yore, What are they now, when two deaths may be mine,--One sure, and one forecasting its alarms?

Painting and sculpture satisfy no more The soul now turning to the Love Divine, That oped, to embrace us, on the cross its arms.

V

TO VITTORIA COLONNA

Lady, how can it chance--yet this we see In long experience--that will longer last A living image carved from quarries vast Than its own maker, who dies presently?

Cause yieldeth to effect if this so be, And even Nature is by Art at surpassed;This know I, who to Art have given the past, But see that Time is breaking faith with me.

Perhaps on both of us long life can I

Either in color or in stone bestow, By now portraying each in look and mien;So that a thousand years after we die, How fair thou wast, and I how full of woe, And wherefore I so loved thee, may be seen.

VI

TO VITTORIA COLONNA

When the prime mover of my many sighs Heaven took through death from out her earthly place, Nature, that never made so fair a face, Remained ashamed, and tears were in all eyes.

O fate, unheeding my impassioned cries!

O hopes fallacious! O thou spirit of grace, Where art thou now? Earth holds in its embrace Thy lovely limbs, thy holy thoughts the skies.

Vainly did cruel death attempt to stay The rumor of thy virtuous renown, That Lethe's waters could not wash away!

A thousand leaves, since he hath stricken thee down, Speak of thee, nor to thee could Heaven convey, Except through death, a refuge and a crown.

VII

DANTE

What should be said of him cannot be said;By too great splendor is his name attended;To blame is easier those who him offended, Than reach the faintest glory round him shed.

This man descended to the doomed and dead For our instruction; then to God ascended;Heaven opened wide to him its portals splendid, Who from his country's, closed against him, fled.

Ungrateful land! To its own prejudice Nurse of his fortunes; and this showeth well, That the most perfect most of grief shall see.

Among a thousand proofs let one suffice, That as his exile hath no parallel, Ne'er walked the earth a greater man than he.

VIII

CANZONE

Ah me! ah me! when thinking of the years, The vanished years, alas, I do not find Among them all one day that was my own!

Fallacious hope; desires of the unknown, Lamenting, loving, burning, and in tears (For human passions all have stirred my mind), Have held me, now I feel and know, confined Both from the true and good still far away.

I perish day by day;

The sunshine fails, the shadows grow more dreary, And I am near to fail, infirm and weary.

THE NATURE OF LOVE

BY GUIDO GUINIZELLI

To noble heart Love doth for shelter fly, As seeks the bird the forest's leafy shade;Love was not felt till noble heart beat high, Nor before love the noble heart was made.

Soon as the sun's broad flame Was formed, so soon the clear light filled the air;Yet was not till he came:

So love springs up in noble breasts, and there Has its appointed space, As heat in the bright flames finds its allotted place.

Kindles in noble heart the fire of love, As hidden virtue in the precious stone:

同类推荐
  • 清文精选

    清文精选

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 八卦拳学

    八卦拳学

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 松窗杂录

    松窗杂录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Roundabout to Boston

    Roundabout to Boston

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 徐仙翰藻

    徐仙翰藻

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 守护甜心之鸽船唯有帆

    守护甜心之鸽船唯有帆

    感情是真的很好,三分之一的青梅竹马,在某一天,克罗地亚狂想曲奏响,他的酒红色瞳眸染上悲伤。“非要这样吗?”“是啊,毕竟...那是我爱的人。”
  • 南方庭园

    南方庭园

    这个遗世独立的小世界里,永远封存着昔日的时光、情怀和故事,在祁家的男人们因为各种各样的原因离开这个世界之后,女人们还在花园里赏花、拓碑、写诗。每一株葡萄树,每一朵芍药,都让这个女儿国里的诗人们不知题咏了多少遍。以至时人只要一提起山阴梅墅,就起无穷遐想,“望之若十二瑶台”。瑶台,那是天上的仙女们侍奉西王母的地方啊。但最后,随着1676年商夫人的去世,这个以亲情和对共同往事的回忆连接在一起的诗歌团体终于解体了,一切都消失在寺院的苍茫钟声里了。
  • 唤醒千年的记忆:银发帝妃

    唤醒千年的记忆:银发帝妃

    冷木语冷清的现代杀手,却因为不够心狠手辣被自己的亲人加害穿越到一个五岁孩童的身上,这是否命中注定……轩辕逸枫冷血的君王因为孩童时代无意中救了饿晕在路边的她,从此纠缠,这是巧合还是宿命……今生的沉睡唤醒前世的记忆,也许他们之间根本不是从穿越那一刻就开始。或许他们今生的相遇是为了弥补前世的亏欠,千年前的他们之间到底发生了什么……。而今生的他们又将迎来怎样的考验……【蓬莱岛原创社团出品】
  • 何风扬夏诉缱绻

    何风扬夏诉缱绻

    【1v1双洁,甜文,爽文,金手指,伪双重生】一朝重生,她怒甩渣男,和他甜蜜再恋。一次意外,他失忆忘记她的一切,她却按捺爱恋,默默守护。本以为这辈子两人再无缘分。谁知,他突然恢复记忆,还恢复了前世的记忆!苏夏:前世我辜负了你,我愿意用这辈子来补偿你。何扬:补偿?那就以身相许。苏夏:我有金手指,我要做你的保护伞!何扬:做什么保护伞,好好做我的小宝贝。苏夏:你不要这样,我会不思进取的。何扬:反正你有我,我允许你不思进取。谁来救救她,她被宠的生活都快不能自理了QAQ……
  • 超级好爸爸就这8招

    超级好爸爸就这8招

    “父教”能使孩子远离柔弱脆弱、自私自利、羞怯自卑、自暴自弃、害怕失败等消极因素,赋予孩子自信、坚强、果断、豪爽、独立等优良品质,从此健康成长。本书为家长们提供了全新的“父教”方法。通过简单易行的8招让你成为一个超级成功的好爸爸。
  • 异界茶道系统

    异界茶道系统

    新书:《我的最强宝箱系统》在异界的一处荒漠,有着这么一处神奇之地。当别的书者还在绞尽脑汁写着文章,这里的书者却下笔如有神,写起了小说。当别的舞者还在苦练舞术,这里的舞者却跳起了一种从所未有的舞蹈,广场舞。当别的画者还在画山水画时,这里画者开始画起了漫画。修炼之路很无聊?不存在的,各种类型电影电视剧随之而出,这里的职业者,开始迷恋起了追星。异界强者为尊,修炼必须冷血无情?古熙笑着说道:“不存在的,毕竟世界那么大,除了修炼,我们还可以吃吃小酒,看看电影,听听音乐。”
  • 大小便门

    大小便门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 神棍皇妃

    神棍皇妃

    一朝穿越,夏盈喜没想到自己穿成了‘神’,就那么偏巧不巧的掉到了皇家的祭台上。‘老天爷!你放心,我一定不会辜负你的期望,做一名合格的神棍!’可偏偏有人不信神佛。‘夏盈喜,你能不能算算我什么时候娶你?’‘夏盈喜,那你打算什么时候嫁我?’男女主双戏精搞笑超甜宠文不喜勿喷
  • 万氏秘传片玉心书

    万氏秘传片玉心书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 娇妻请签收

    娇妻请签收

    “小三入宅,糟糠之妻露宿街头”、“正妻为挽回丈夫,街头给小三下跪”、“婆婆为抱孙子,请情妇入家门,赶走正牌媳妇儿”……这一个个的,都是些什么狗血标题?一张清秀的小脸就和麻团一样乱拧在一起,云清梨鼻子上架着副黑框眼镜,却挡不住她一天一夜没睡觉的黑眼圈。“清梨,排版怎么样了?马上就要送印刷厂了!”隔壁的王大姐一个饿狼扑食,泰山压顶一般压在了云清梨那瘦瘦小小的身板上,……