Signor, se vero è alcun proverbio...

Signor, se vero è alcun proverbio antico,
questo è ben quel, che chi può, mai non vuole.
Tu hai creduto a favole e parole,
e premiato chi èl del ver nimico.

Io sono, e fui già tuo buon servo antico;
a te son dato come i raggi al sole;
e del mio tempo non t'incresce o duole,
e men ti piaccio se più m'affatico.

Già sperai ascender per la tuo altezza;
e 'l giusto peso, e la potente spada
fassi al bisogno, e non la voce d'ecco.

Ma 'l cielo è quel ch'ogni virtù disprezza
locarla al mondo, se vuol ch'altri vada
a prender frutto d'un arbor ch'è secco.

by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) , from Rime, no. 6

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975) , no title, op. 145 no. 1 (1974), from Suite, no. 1, also set in Russian

by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975) , no title, op. 145 no. 1 (1974), from Suite, no. 1, also set in Italian

ENG English (John Addington Symonds)
GER German (Bettina Jacobson)
FRE French (Guy Laffaille)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Jest' istiny v rechen'jakh stariny

Jest' istiny v rechen'jakh stariny,
I vot odna: kto mozhet, tot ne khochet;
Ty vnjal, Sin'or, tomu, chto lozh' strekochet,
I boltuny toboj nagrazhdeny;

Ja zh – tvoj sluga: moi trudy dany
Tebe, kak solncu luch, – khot' i porochit
Tvoj gnev vsjo to, chto pyl moj sdelat' prochit,
I vse moi stradanija ne nuzhny.

Ja dumal, chto voz'mjot tvojo velich'e
Menja k sebe ne `ekhom dlja palat,
A lezvijem suda i girej gneva;

No jest' k zemnym zaslugam bezrazlich'e
Na nebesakh, i zhdat' ot nikh nagrad –
Chto ozhidat' plodov s sukhogo dreva.

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

Singable translation by Abram Efros (1888-1954)

a text in Italian by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) , from Rime, no. 6 ENG GER FRE

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975) , no title, op. 145 no. 1 (1974), from Suite, no. 1, also set in Italian

Date added to the website: 2008-10-02.