Glorïosa columna in cui s'appoggia
nostra speranza e 'l gran nome latino,
ch'ancor non torse del vero camino
l'ira di Giove per ventosa pioggia,
qui non palazzi, non theatro o loggia,
ma 'n lor vece un abete, un faggio, un pino
tra l'erba verde e 'l bel monte vicino,
onde si scende poetando et poggia,
levan di terra al ciel nostr'intellecto;
e 'l rosigniuol che dolcemente all'ombra
tutte le notti si lamenta et piagne,
d'amorosi penseri il cor ne 'ngombra:
ma tanto bel sol tronchi, et fai imperfecto,
tu che da noi, signor mio, ti scompagne.
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Glorious pillar in whom rests
our hope and the great Latin name,
that Jupiter's anger through wind and rain
still does not twist from the true way,
who raise our intellect from earth to heaven,
not in a palace, a theatre, or arcade,
but instead in fir, beech or pine,
on the green grass and the lovely nearby mountain,
from which poetry descends and rests;
and the nightingale that laments and weeps
all night long, sweetly, in the shadows,
fills the heart with thoughts of love:
but you by departing from us my lord,
only cut off such beauty, and make it imperfect.
Note:
Stefano Colonna ('the column') is referred to.
His son Cardinal Giovanni was Petrarch's patron,
another son Giacomo was Bishop of Lombez in the Pyrenees.
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