Io sper' e tem' e ard' e mi disfaccio
E quest'ardore
C'ho dentr' al core
Non mi vuol viuo e non mi trahe d'impaccio
Io volo sopra il cielo, e in terra giaccio
E in tal pensiero
Io mi disperso
Che nulla stringo, e tutto il mondo abbraccio.
Ho in odio, e amo, e seguo chi m'ancide
E pur non veggio
Com'io vaneggio
Ch'Amore al fin di me si burla e ride.
Io piango, e rido de grauosi homei
E in tale stato
Son condennato
Per Donna che par bella à gl'occhi miei.
I hope; I burn for you; I melt,
And this conflagration
In my heart
Does not want me to survive
And does nothing to rescue me from torment.
I fly higher than the heavens and I lie on the ground
And am lost in such thoughts
That I press the empty air to me and embrace the whole world.
I hate, and I love, and I follow a lady who will be the death of me
And yet I do not see
How I am raving,
And that in the end Love makes a mockery of me.
I weep and laugh at deep sighs
and to this state I am condemned
by a lady who to my eyes seems beautiful.
The text is an imitation of the famous poem by Petrarch, 'Pace non
trovo, et non ò a far guerra', no. 134 from 'Canzoniere', see
Fifty-three Poems from 'The Canzoniere'