Monday, March 29, 2010

Vittoria Colonna

A couple of poems by Vittoria Colonna (1490 - 1547), translated from the original Italian.

WHENE'ER I LOOK AT MY SO GREAT AN ERROR

Whene’er I look at my so great an error,

confused, to God the Father I can’t raise

the unworthy face, but to You who for us died

upon the wood, I turn a faithful heart.

Your pain and love are today my shield

against a wrath that’s ancient and yet new.

You are my only true and precious pledge,

turning to hope and joy anguish and dread.


As Your breath left you, You prayed for us: "O Father,

let those who believe join me in my kingdom."

And now my soul at rest knows no more fear.

Now by Your mercy I believe, and know

Your burning Passion which razed all my guilt

forever, as it consumed You on the cross.


MADRIGAL

The white, sweet swan

dies singing, while I weeping

come to the end of life.

How strange and different our fate:

his death is without comfort,

mine full of blessing.

O sweet and gentle death,

to me more pleasant

than any joyous life!

O death which fills me

with great desire and mirth,

for, as the Phoenix,

I die but find new birth!

3 comments:

  1. Just read your interview with Andrea Ferrari in Modern Reformation. Very interesting and encouraging to see the Spirit working throughout the world and especially in Italy. Thank you for your work and your very interesting blog.

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  2. Hello, Mrs. Carr.

    My wife (who is Sicilian-Italian) want to begin to teach our children the Italian language. Would you have an recommendations of materials, curricula, programs, etc. that are good?

    My wife has studied French (though not to fluency) and I have a strong command of Latin.

    Thank you.

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  3. I apologize. I have posted replies to these two posts and I just now realized that they have disappeared.
    Ron, thank you for your kind words.
    Matt, if you lived in San Diego I could recommend some programs. As for books, Alma Edizioni has some good books for children but it's based in Italy. Maybe you can still find them on Amazon. Otherwise, you could check the catalog of your local library and see what they have. That way, you can see the books before you actually buy them and find what is best for you. The library also has videos and CD's.

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