BEN TEMPO SARIA OMAI ... | THERE COULD NOT BE A FITTER TIME ... |
Michelangelo | trans. Peter Dean |
Ben tempo saria omai ritrarsi dal martire ch'é l'età col desire non ben s'accorda; ma l'alma, cieca e sorda, Amor, come tu sai, del tempo e del morire che, contro a morte ancor, me la ricorda; e se l'arco e la corda avvien che tronchi o spezzi in mille e mille pezzi, prega te sol non manchi un de' suoi guai: ché mai non muor chi non guarisce mai. |
There could not be a fitter time to disaffiliate myself from pain, since age with hot desire does not accord: but my soul, stone-blind, deaf as a board - as you, Love, were familiar with in my prime - at cost of hours and dying's daily gain, right to death's door, reminders will afford; and, even if your bow and cord were to be shattered, cut and bent, and into a thousand thousand pieces rent, I beg you not to overlook her merest crime: never dies one whose suffering stays sublime. |
Trans. copyright © Peter Dean 2003